Keris for comment

[Sajen]

And here the Sumbawa keris in my possession which I bought once from Pak Hartadi.

[Fheng]

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[Fheng]

2 of 2

[Jean]

Hello Sajen,
Thank you for the very interesting pictures and thread, it is clear that the Sumbawa kris is an extremely complex and fascinating subject yet to be studied!
Regarding the kris from Fheng, I would still attribute the blade more probably to Sumbawa or another Bugis origin than to Lombok because of its size (350 mm)
Regards
Jean

[Sajen]

Hello Jean,

yes, Sumbawa keris is still a closed book and maybe never will be opened.

Regarding the keris from Fheng I think it is difficult to come to a good conclusion without handling the blade and the removal of the staining make it yet more difficult.

Regards,

Detlef

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Hello Sajen,
Thank you for the very interesting pictures and thread, it is clear that the Sumbawa kris is an extremely complex and fascinating subject yet to be studied!
Regarding the kris from Fheng, I would still attribute the blade more probably to Sumbawa or another Bugis origin than to Lombok because of its size (350 mm)

Perhaps Jean, but what limited resources that i have found always seem to refer to the materials used in Sumbawa keris as being somewhat inferior and bearing a course, sand-like texture. The texture of Fheng's keris seems to be rather smooth...

[Jean]

Hello David and Detlef,
Sorry I did not see the latest pictures from Fheng before writing my latest post and I agree that the origin of this blade remains uncertain.
Regarding the sand-like texture of the Sumbawa blades, I am of the opinion that this is not by far an universal aspect, you can refer to "Hartadi keris Lombok" site for instance which shows several krisses found in Sumbawa which do not meet at all this specification.
It seems to me that the krisses from Sumbawa are found in various qualities and specifications (dapur, pamor, iron, etc). It is possible that some blades were imported from Sulawesi or Lombok (or made by smiths coming from these islands), and that the pieces with sand-like texture and no pamor (tangguh Kupang) were produced by local smiths with inferior materials. Furthermore it is likely that the krisses from the Mbojo and Sumawa ethnic groups are different since they had little contacts, anybody could confirm?
Regards
Jean