Orientation of the grip of this keris

[kulbuntet]

at first to Allan again. Chieftain keris is as i see it know as a tribe elder or leader, head waroir. I heve read the same that those men had a keris with a large wranka fited for their status.

To Freddy, the missing of batik/hair or what ever, on the peksi as the bended peksi. Can be explained as it try to write before. Sulawesi bugis do twist off their hilt as a sight of good will. Like the sam custom as carrying a keris in the right hand an putting you left on your right wrist when shaking sombody's hand. Sulawesi bugis did not put their keris in a rack or stand when entering a hous or court.They just twist off the hilt, and the keris can not be used as a weapon but is stil with the owner.

I also found some pics in books showing the reversed hilt(Edward Frey/The Kris..pg67C/E, pg66E and pg68F bugis Sulawesi and Sumatra keris)(and David van Duren/The kris(dutch versoin)..pg89). I had a thought about what Allan said...using ropes..bugis/sulawesi..they were seamen the bugis. I tryed using the keris with reversed hilt, it can be used as a cutting/stabing weapon(cutting roppes?). The diffrence would be that it is more used as a short sword than as a dagger.



Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Michel, that's the obvious interpretation of "chieftain".

Don't get me wrong:- I understand the word itself, I just have no idea of why this keris type is called this name, I also have no idea of exactly what a "chieftain" is in the cultural context of these societies.

If a Malay word were to be used to describe this type of keris, we would probably have a pretty good idea of exactly what was meant, and the relevant connotations, but "chieftain"?---sorry, I do not understand.

If it is true that the elites of some cultural group wore keris with a bigger than usual wrongko, can we identify the specific cultural group, persons permitted this style within the cultural group, location, time period, source of information,---etc, etc, etc? In other words:- what do we know and how do we know it?

Whenever we give an opinion on something, that opinion is usually based upon our experience. We might come to a particular conclusion after some years of observing various factors from various sources, and our experience can be of varying types, varying integrity, and varying durations. But when all is said and done, an opinion is just somebody's good guess. It could well be wrong. However, with this "chieftain" name tag, I see it recurring consistently, and I doubt that it is based on experience, but rather upon information from some source. The gap in my knowledge is that I do not know the source, and not knowing the source, I don't really understand what it means.

As for the reversed grip, as I have already stated, the ones I have handled with reversed grips were of the same type,and these grips were not easily removeable, both were firmly stuck in place with damar. Perhaps Freddy's keris grip was not stuck with damar, and perhaps its reversal was the result of some ill advised removal and replacement, but the fact remains that the blade type seems to fall within the same classification as my two that had reversed grips. I do most strongly believe that this grip reversal was a practice that was observed by some group of people at some time. Who, when, where, why, I cannot even guess.

[sipakatuo]

Freddy, we dont called it Keris in Sulawesi. We called it Tappi or Sele but I prefer Tappi. IMHO your Tappi has Bugis Characters such as Pangulu (Handle), Wanua (Sheath) and Kili kili (Ring/Mendak). It is true what Alan said, there are some Tappi which have reversed Pangulu. In term of Watting (Paksi), yes they are always bend but not quite as bend as yours and most of the Watting slightly twisted at the edge. As far as why the watting always glued/sealed very hard? it is a tradition or so called belief that the 'Tuah' of the Tappi stayed inside the Watting therefore you can always show the blade to someone but never show the Watting. The same with Badik, Alameng, and Salaga they are always sealed.

[David]

Originally Posted by sipakatuo

As far as why the watting always glued/sealed very hard?

I have always assumed that hilts were secured to the blades with damar when they were to be used for fighting to make sure that they do not become separated in the heat of battle.

[sipakatuo]

Originally Posted by David

I have always assumed that hilts were secured to the blades with damar when they were to be used for fighting to make sure that they do not become separated in the heat of battle.

True indeed, apart from that there is also mystical factor. Thank you for adding.

[BluErf]

Hi all,

I attach pictures of 2 Bugis kerises from my collection - one Straits Bugis, prob from the Peninsula side, and one Sulawesi Bugis. Both have pretty straight/unbent peksi (in Malay terminology). You could use a ruler to verify the centre line of each peksi remains true from ganja to the end the peksi. I should have some more Bugis kerises from various locations with pretty straight peksi.

However, I have also seen many Bugis kerises with bent peksi.

On the point about chieftain kerises, I cannot pinpoint where I first heard the about it. I do hear my Malay collector friends call such kerises "keris penghulu", which I understand to mean village headman or a chief of sorts. I see the term "chieftain" as a convenient tag to identify such types of Bugis kerises in the Peninsular/Sumatran context, defined by big sampir, broad batang, and typically a short but broad 7-waved Bugis blade. These kerises seemed to be a Peninsular/Sumatran construct, and not found in Sulawesi.

In the Peninsular/Sumatran Bugis context, the bigger the size of the sampir, the higher the status of the wearer. There seemed to be no fixed rule as to how big or small it should be for any given social standing of the chief, and I suppose much depends on the economic wellbeing of the keris owner. That said, I don't see any of this "chieftain" kerises as being really really high class. The epitome of Bugis keris in the Peninsular/Sumatran context is probably the golden keris on the cover of Court Arts of Indonesia, from the Riau-Lingga empire, if I remember correctly. That keris has a normal-sized sampir covered in finely chased gold. I suppose the "chieftain" keris could be a phenomenon amongst the "village head" level of people.

On the orientation of the hilt, even if the few specimens here have had their hilts fixed sideways with resin, it may not prove that it is the 'correct' way, I feel. I turn my Bugis keris hilts that way myself all the time - when I am storing them. I'm not saying that this is the reason for these keris hilts to turn up like that in the original context, but surely for practical reasons, the hilt has to be turned to face forward again when necessary? And as pointed out, turning the hilt sideways could have been to signify a non-aggressive stance, or perhaps it made sense for sea-faring Bugis not to have the hilt get in the way. So perhaps there are a few ways of positioning the hilt, and the correctness of either position may not be that important.

[Jussi M.]

Please could you tell me how long are these blades with reverse hilts?

Thanks.

J