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.

15th May 2017, 10:35 PM	#10
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	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.