Two 17th century Keris at the Power and Fashion Exhibition in Dresden

[David]

I second (or third) everyone thanking you for posting these. Rarely seen authentically old and beautifully executed blades.
I wonder, Alan, if now that we have these blades on view for examination is you might have more to say about them since you had the opportunity to examine them closely and first-hand.
I suspect that the paint sheath has a strong Chinese influence from the choice of motifs.
I see that the gold sheathed keris is similar in dress to other Sumbawa keris, bit wonder if the origin of the blade itself might not be Jawa.

[Tatyana Dianova]

Next time I will take a better camera at the exhibition

[Bjorn]

I agree with David. The painting of the sheath looks very Chinese. The same style also exists in Japan, imported from China, but considering the large amount of ethnic Chinese and peranakan in Indonesia, Chinese influence seems more likely.

Both blades are nice, but I love the Sumbawa one. The blade itself strikes me as Javanese also, but perhaps there were Javanese smiths at the royal courts of Sumbawa at one point? Or it could have been a gift to cement the relationship between ruler and vassal. I forget whether Sumbawa was a vassal state to Mojohapit.


Alan, out of curiosity, what are the reasons the Dresden museum does not want these photos made public?

[kai]

Bima and some other kingdoms/regencies on Sumbawa were tightly connected to Gowa; their pusaka blades include several gifts from Gowa rulers.

Actually, the fittings of the keris shown first is distinctly Sulawesi Selantan, possibly a style that predates the arrival of Islam on Sulawesi. The gorgeous blade is a rare example of a quality kinatah blade with complex pamor!

The blade may be a gift from East Jawa.

Regards,
Kai

[drdavid]

Thank you very much Tatyana, having images of pieces like these with good provenance is very useful. I would vote Chinese over Japanese, the peacock is not a common motif in Japan.
DrDavid

[A. G. Maisey]

What I will write here is from memory, I do not have time to check references at the moment.

In respect of the Chinese style ornamentation, I think that was actually done in Europe, possibly Germany, or maybe Vienna?

In any case, it is not original ornamentation out of the East. If Gustav tunes into this thread, he will be able to expand on this.

I do have notes on everything I handled, but those notes are targetted at specific things that I was looking at and for, they are not comprehensive notes. I had one day to examine and photograph a very large number of keris, in fact I had less than a day because I lost time through a mixup with meeting the curator. I used a Canon S95 for the photos, natural light through a window, no bounce boards, no tripods. I did record photos purely for research.

I do not recall handling the Bugis keris. I do recall that I missed handling, I think, two of the Dresden holdings, they were on display in the Rustkammer at the time of my visit, Maybe that gold Bugis keris was there.

Edit

The keris with Oriental ( Chinese in style but probably influenced by Japanese examples used for study by Schnell) ornamentation is to be found on P.13, Chapter 5 of "Keris Disc", it is attributable to the workshop of Martin Schnell, Dresden, circa 1720.

Schnell studied Japanese lacquer work in the possession of Augustus II (1670-1733), the lacquer work on this scabbard has been applied over original Javanese red laquer work. This new lacquer work was probably carried out for Augustus II.

The original hilt on this keris was gold, it was sold by Augustus II, probably after the Seven Years War (I was advised after the Thirty Years War, but that War ended in 1648 and Augustus II was born in 1670).

The hilt now fitted to this keris was carved in Dresden as a replacement and has an integral mendak, it is noted in records from 1757.

The sirah cecak is Mojopahit form, but overall, other characteristics indicate that the keris itself is of Mataram form, but most likely made in East Jawa.

This keris is probably not original to the wrongko.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I do not recall handling the Bugis keris. I do recall that I missed handling, I think, two of the Dresden holdings, they were on display in the Rustkammer at the time of my visit, Maybe that gold Bugis keris was there.

Given what appear to be Gowa influences (or perhaps even from there) would it be correct to refer to this as a Bugis keris. I thought Gowa was Makassarese people.
Also wondering if this is the same keris. Seems so.

[Paul Duffy]

May I add my thanks also for sharing this interesting 17th century piece.

I recently saw some keris in Paris at the La Musee de L'Armee, which are also described as 17th century pieces. I'll try to post a photo, but I'd be interested in any comments on these keris

[kai]

Hello Alan,

Thanks a lot for your added notes on the keris with sunggingan scabbard!

The sirah cecak is Mojopahit form, but overall, other characteristics indicate that the keris itself is of Mataram form, but most likely made in East Jawa.

Do you believe this to originate from an area in East Jawa which was under control (or strong influence) of (early?) Mataram rather than a peripheral politi like Blambangan?

Regards,
Kai

[David]

Thanks Kai. Man, i now wish i had kept up with my high school German, but if you don't use it, you lose it i'm afraid.
But i agree that the detailed photographs of some of these old examples make it worth reviewing for the visual aspects alone.