Archeological Finding

A. G. Maisey · 15th May 2017, 10:35 PM

Athanase, this keris of yours is in my opinion a Lombok keris.

The hilt is Balinese, the pendongkok Bugis, the scabbard is a Bugis style, the blade I cannot ID from what I can see, but it does appear to be missing its gonjo. In other words, it is a mix, but mixed components are far, far more usual in real life than collectors care to believe.

Lombok was colonised by the Balinese, then the Bugis came along and also wanted some of it. There were little wars going on there for years. Complete keris from Lombok are very often a bit of a mix, and when not mixed, the blades will often show very peculiar interpretations of form.

Athanase · 16th May 2017, 10:40 AM

The blade of my keris a typical bugis straight blade. All in this Keris is Bugis style, except the handle.
This keris comes from an old French collection, collected in the middle of the 20th century (or before?, I have no more information).

rasdan · 16th May 2017, 03:07 PM

Thanks Athanase. Your hilt surely looks like the one I posted. Guess this type is very widespread throughout the archipelago.

David · 16th May 2017, 03:40 PM

I would second Alan's suggestion that the hilt on Athanase's keris is probably a Lombak form of the planar hilt. It has distinct differences from the hilts shown in both posts #6 & #7 which are definitely not Lombok.

15th May 2017, 10:35 PM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,019	Athanase, this keris of yours is in my opinion a Lombok keris. The hilt is Balinese, the pendongkok Bugis, the scabbard is a Bugis style, the blade I cannot ID from what I can see, but it does appear to be missing its gonjo. In other words, it is a mix, but mixed components are far, far more usual in real life than collectors care to believe. Lombok was colonised by the Balinese, then the Bugis came along and also wanted some of it. There were little wars going on there for years. Complete keris from Lombok are very often a bit of a mix, and when not mixed, the blades will often show very peculiar interpretations of form.

16th May 2017, 10:40 AM	#2
Athanase Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Paris (France) Posts: 420	The blade of my keris a typical bugis straight blade. All in this Keris is Bugis style, except the handle. This keris comes from an old French collection, collected in the middle of the 20th century (or before?, I have no more information).

16th May 2017, 03:07 PM	#3
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 369	Thanks Athanase. Your hilt surely looks like the one I posted. Guess this type is very widespread throughout the archipelago.

16th May 2017, 03:40 PM	#4
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,220	I would second Alan's suggestion that the hilt on Athanase's keris is probably a Lombak form of the planar hilt. It has distinct differences from the hilts shown in both posts #6 & #7 which are definitely not Lombok.