Keris Bugis for comments

[A. G. Maisey]

It would be rather misguided to subject this Bugis blade to the flamboyant Javanese warangan treatment.

It is very good just as it is.

Marius, once a silver, or horn, or other infill is applied to an old wrongko it is simply not possible to know if the wrongko was originally made for the blade now in it, or not.

In fact, this "originality" of wrongko to blade is not nearly as important as most collectors believe it to be, especially with keris that were actually used in combat. In societies where the keris was principally a part of dress, a nice neat fit of blade to wrongko is pretty important, but in societies where the primary use of the keris was as a weapon, the scabbards were often lost and a scabbard that was near enough was substituted. The two societies where this often occurred were Bugis society and Balinese society.

Anyway, its a really nice batu lapak:- many women and a harmonious household; who wouldn't want such a keris?

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

It would be rather misguided to subject this Bugis blade to the flamboyant Javanese warangan treatment.

It is very good just as it is.

Marius, once a silver, or horn, or other infill is applied to an old wrongko it is simply not possible to know if the wrongko was originally made for the blade now in it, or not.

In fact, this "originality" of wrongko to blade is not nearly as important as most collectors believe it to be, especially with keris that were actually used in combat. In societies where the keris was principally a part of dress, a nice neat fit of blade to wrongko is pretty important, but in societies where the primary use of the keris was as a weapon, the scabbards were often lost and a scabbard that was near enough was substituted. The two societies where this often occurred were Bugis society and Balinese society.

Anyway, its a really nice batu lapak:- many women and a harmonious household; who wouldn't want such a keris?

Thank you Alan!

[David]

I would agree with Alan than an aggressive warangan treatment on this keris would not be culturally inappropriate. While i understand the desire to see such a nice pattern "pop" with high contrast , that is far less acceptable outside of the Java/Bali/Madura nexus. I think that it is important for us to understand that the manner in which different keris bearing cultures maintain their blades is not the same and that Indonesia is indeed made up of numerous cultures.
The question of the Passio Sumange (Toli-Toli) has been an ongoing one that i am still not certain we have ever had clear and concise answers on. There do seem to be a fair amount of this style of dress available on the market these days and i suspect that Marius' example is probably more contemporary and may have been added to this dress later. Still, it seems to have a little bit of age and is nicely and tastefully done. I still have questions about the function of this feature traditionally. Was it reserved for a certain social level to convey status? Does it serve any practical function? Is it appropriate to simply add it to the dress of any culturally Bugis keris? We have discussed these questions in these threads, but i am not sure we actually came to any agreed upon conclusion.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=toli-toli
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=toli-toli