My Bugis keris

[Johan van Zyl]

Rick, thanks for your "sympathy". On the matter of the restrictions I cannot tell you anything as I have never needed to research it. I did get kukris on separate occasions from American sources some years ago, with no problems. I would reckon if I needed to order something vauable nowadays, I would demand that some sort of registration method with tracking number be used for security reasons.

David, thanks for your comments. It is clear you have given this matter a lot of thought, and it seems a worthwhile topic for you to investigate further. The blade you posted seems to have nickel as part of the pattern mix. Would I be correct when I say that my Bugis keris blade does not contain nickel, and that the slight colour differences visible can be ascribed to different types of iron ("white" and "black") in the billet?

I have in the meantime researched some of the terms used by Gustav. In my understanding sirah cecak is die blunt end of the ganja. The opposite end is buntut urang, if I am correct. Yes, there does seem to be a "beump", but I think the blade could only have gotten that bump while it was out of dress and without hilt. And I think it got the bump a long time ago as the bump looks as aged as the blade itself. Let me add here that the story goes that a man brought this keris as well as my Javanese keris out of SEA to South Africa in the 1950s. Both came into the hands of a collector, from whom my dealer cousin got them and passed them on to me. (I bartered an arm & a leg for them.) The bump could have occurred while still in SEA.

And then I would like to ask Jean what is it about the pendokok that might suggest Riau as place of origin above Sulawesi. It seems I have underestimated the pendokok as a part of the keris that one can get clues from. This is once again most interesting.

Jean mentioned the timpalaja as meaning "roof ridge" (the pattern at the base of the blade). I found an alternative unjung gunung, meaning "mountain peak". I assume these are from two different languages, indicating the very same thing.

Tebba jampu and wengkon I could not fathom. AFAIK wengkon is part of the description of a blade pattern (pamor). Could you come in here please, Jean?

Cheers
Johan

[kai]

Hello Johan,

Would I be correct when I say that my Bugis keris blade does not contain nickel, and that the slight colour differences visible can be ascribed to different types of iron ("white" and "black") in the billet?

Your blade could be called "out of stain", i. e. it is not really possible to estimate how strong the contrast would be after any kind of etching. The contour-like or topographic effect of your blade suggests that the pamor was forged from quite different iron alloys; most likely these would also result in very visible pamor upon etching again: the contrast might get black & white as in David's example or (more likely with these kind of blades) some shade of dark grey vs. light grey...

Regards,
Kai

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

And then I would like to ask Jean what is it about the pendokok that might suggest Riau as place of origin above Sulawesi. It seems I have underestimated the pendokok as a part of the keris that one can get clues from. This is once again most interesting.

Jean mentioned the timpalaja as meaning "roof ridge" (the pattern at the base of the blade). I found an alternative unjung gunung, meaning "mountain peak". I assume these are from two different languages, indicating the very same thing.

Tebba jampu and wengkon I could not fathom. AFAIK wengkon is part of the description of a blade pattern (pamor). Could you come in here please, Jean?

Cheers
Johan

Hello Johan,
Please note that I am not a Bugis kris specialist, just an interested collector!
Regarding the pendokok (apparently called kili-kili in Sulawesi), this carved and flat type is sometimes called Bugis cup (by Frey for instance) and it seems more common in East Sumatra & Malaysia than in Sulawesi but other opinions are welcome. BTW I have my doubts that it could be made from solid gold...
Pamor Timpalaja is located at the base of the blade only, while pamor Ujung Gunung (called Gantara for Bugis krisses) extends along the whole blade.
Pamor Tebba Jampu is similar to pamor Ngulit Semangka or Beras Wutah in Java and it apparently means batang jampu in Indonesian "stem of the rose-apple?".
Pamor Teppobaja means batas baja in Indonesian or "steel limit". Pamor Teppobaja or Wengkon is the pamor line at the edges of the blade.
Regards