Keris Sundang Melayu with a parrot hilt

[David]

I disagree with Newsteel. I think this is most probably a Malay sundang. Just take a look at the gonjo and the way the greneng goes up the blade. This is not a Moro style.

[PenangsangII]

Originally Posted by David

I disagree with Newsteel. I think this is most probably a Malay sundang. Just take a look at the gonjo and the way the greneng goes up the blade. This is not a Moro style.

yes, the ganja and the greneng looks Malay, but the inscriptions indicate heavy moro influence

[Newsteel]

Hi Michael,

No I do not suggest he carved this hilt. I do not have any good source about Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook. What was known is that he is a well-known mastercarver at Terengganu. He is also mentioned in the book 'Spirit of the Woods'. If I'm not wrong, he is the first to carve kakaktua (parrot) hilt for keris, only meant for the sultan. This form soon got attention and a lot more carvers tend to follow it.

As for the blade, it is hard to actually pin point the exact region. Most malay sundang would have a smaller size and the metal preference is high carbon steel which tends to look more greyish black. But this is not a main factor when identifying malay sundang. We have example which looks Javanese with sogokan and tikel alis. But surprisingly came from Sulu. Picture below taken from Bill Marsh collection.

[Marcokeris]

Michael IMO the hit could be also a repaired hit where the original top piece (maybe lost) has been changed with a parrot's head (the same of Nautilus for some rare hits).

[David]

Originally Posted by Newsteel

As for the blade, it is hard to actually pin point the exact region. Most malay sundang would have a smaller size and the metal preference is high carbon steel which tends to look more greyish black. But this is not a main factor when identifying malay sundang. We have example which looks Javanese with sogokan and tikel alis. But surprisingly came from Sulu. Picture below taken from Bill Marsh collection.

Bill Marsh's kris is a very old one from what i can see, what Cato calls the "archaic" style and dates to the 18th century. Michael's is obviously much newer than that. Could be early 20th C, give or take. The features you see on Bill's kris were more common in that day when the Moro kris was much closer to the look of Indonesian keris. But at this later date i have not seen any Moro kris that have a gonjo slant and greneng like Michael's sundang. The dress is Malay and the blade shows some very Malay attributes. Yes, the engraved lines are very Moro influenced. Still, given the entire package, i would lay my money on a Malay origin for the blade as well as the dress.

[Rick]

From what I see in the pictures of this piece the blade is quite wide for it's length .
This is a proportion ratio (I have) not seen before in Moro blades .

The engraving is similar to Moro work yet seems subtly different .

I think it's all Malay .

And beautiful !

[VVV]

Thanks for all comments!

On the engravings I have the same motif on 3 of my 4 Terengganu dressed Keris Sundang.
So I thought it was a typical Malay motif?
I tried to find more info about Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook in the Spirit of Wood book, but couldn't?
I also noticed that the smaller hulu kakatua, for regular-sized keris, is represented in the A4 Kerner book too.
So I assume that it has some age, several carvers produced it and it´s not that uncommon?
It looks like the hilt was made from the same block of wood as the sheath so I don't think it was an isolated repair.
Maybe a complete later redress however?
My Terengganu Keris Sundang #4 is on scabbard renovation at the moment but it also has a quite wide blade.
It's about the same size as this one.

Michael

[kai]

Hello Michael,

Where do you find all those Terengganu examples?!?

How is the clamp attached?

It looks like the hilt was made from the same block of wood as the sheath so I don't think it was an isolated repair.
Maybe a complete later redress however?

To me it seems that the blade may also not be very old - just going by the workmanship. BTW, can you see what caused the notches visible in the separation line?

I'd guess that the whole ensemble got made en suite. Maybe WW2 (+/- 30 years)?

Regards,
Kai