Anglo-Saxon Keris for Comments

[David]

Originally Posted by Rick

Will you please start new threads when you change the subject of your enquiries.

Well Rick, to be fair, he didn't really change the subject completely with this last entry. If you look you will see that this "Anglo-Saxon" sheath that Alexish has commissioned is the same exact profile form as the authentic ivory Minangkabau sheath that he shows us in this post.
Of course, now we have a Bugis keris in a Minangkabau style sheath (shape) with Anglo-Saxon motifs...my head is spinning just a little bit...

[alexish]

I enclose more examples of carved batangs (stems) of Minangkabau kerises for comments. Are these traditional designs?

[David]

You're casting a rather large net on these forums Alexish. What are you hoping to catch?

[alexish]

As you can infer from my posts, I am particularly interested in rare sarung forms, which I would like to commision from Indonesian carvers.

As a collector, I see that the typical sarung forms of the kerises from the various regions appear to be too commonly focused on a few sterotype designs.

For example in the case of Javanese kerises, 80% to 90% of kerises for sale have sarungs in either the Gayaman or Ladrang Solo form.

Likewise, in th case of Malay or Bugis kerises, more than 90% have sarungs in the typical plain rectangular "Tebeng" form with no floral motifs.

Hence, I am particularly interested in novelty, uniqeness and rarity of sarung designs.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by alexish

As you can infer from my posts, I am particularly interested in rare sarung forms, which I would like to commision from Indonesian carvers.

Hence, I am particularly interested in novelty, uniqeness and rarity of sarung designs.

Hello Alexish,

Maybe there is a reason why the majority of Javanese Kerises have similar sarungs... like the common cultural background they share as they are deeply rooted in the Javanese culture?!

It is up to you to decide what you like and what you want to collect. But if uniqueness is such an important criteria, I am sure that a Keris with a Mickey Mouse sarung would be exclusively unique, as it would be one with the McDonalds logo.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by alexish

Hence, I am particularly interested in novelty, uniqeness and rarity of sarung designs.

Hello Alexish,
It is up to you and perfectly acceptable to look in priority for novel sarung designs; however for traditional collectors like the majority of us in this forum, these are considered as art pieces and outside the scope of our collections, and many of these new pieces are poorly designed or made.
On the other hand I have no problem to commission a new sarung if required, provided that it be made according to the required local standards, and of course to collect an old and rare sarung if it appears legitimate (see example).
Regards

[David]

I agree with Jean here. I will add, before the word gets used again, that the sheath Jean shows here, while rare, is hardly "atypical". It is a very traditional style from it's time. The reason it is rare today is that those traditional styles evolved over time and wooden sheaths, being made of a relatively delicate material, simply do not tend to survive enact over the many centuries.

[Bjorn]

I seem to recall recently that many of the wrongko contemporary to the one shown by Jean were also decorated with sunggingan.
At the moment I'm reading Jensen's Krisdisk, so I probably got it from there. If so, then it seems likely that the above applied to pieces commissioned by nobililty.

[kai]

Hello Alexis,

As you can infer from my posts, I am particularly interested in rare sarung forms, which I would like to commision from Indonesian carvers.

As a collector, I see that the typical sarung forms of the kerises from the various regions appear to be too commonly focused on a few sterotype designs.

For example in the case of Javanese kerises, 80% to 90% of kerises for sale have sarungs in either the Gayaman or Ladrang Solo form.

Likewise, in th case of Malay or Bugis kerises, more than 90% have sarungs in the typical plain rectangular "Tebeng" form with no floral motifs.

I'd quibble that the Tebeng form comes in quite a lot of local variants and that the market share of Yogya and Madura scabbards is more than 10-20%.

I do see your point though... A good part of the apparent uniformity comes from the fact that the originating cultures heavily stress conformity. As a member of a close-knit group, you most certainly don't want to stand out or look special - any such behaviour would be taken as a kind of insult! Of course, such a restriction doesn't apply to foreign collectors...

Hence, I am particularly interested in novelty, uniqeness and rarity of sarung designs.

I certainly understand your interest; I'd consider quality of carving and quality of the wood as of paramount importance. Quality of carving can be based on fine nuances of the flow of lines if one follows the traditional approach. Quality of wood is something which carvers nowadays have a very tough time to compete with above-average antique examples due to exhausted supplies.

I believe that collecting genuine antique fittings that are damaged beyond repair and patching would be a sensible focus for collectors. In keris-bearing societies these are considered to be unfit for continued use. Thus, rescuing such examples from destruction and keeping them for future study might be a valuable contribution of preserving examples of material culture and old traditions!

Regards,
Kai