Any ideas about this little Sumatra keris?

[A. G. Maisey]

I would most gently suggest that this weapon was very probably regarded as a keris by the person who initially produced it.

To my eye it bears every indication of a weapon of keris-like form that was manufactured for use by a person of lower social status in a place that was not subject to the standards of a refined community.

As collectors we sometimes tend to forget that in the area of SE Asia where the keris is found, not all communities have the same, or even similar, standards. Small, isolated fishing or subsistence farming communities bear absolutely no relevance to communities that are under the influence of a kraton.

Personally, I regard this weapon as a valuable addition to a collection that is formed around the concepts of study & understanding, rather than around the concept of art.