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26th November 2017, 05:31 PM | #1 |
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Location: Paris (France)
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Miniature Bali Belakas Pengentas??
Hello,
I found this two miniature axes at the same antique dealer. It looks a lot like Pengentas Belakas but much smaller ones. The sharp edges are very sharp and that with the "Semar"? is a damask blade (we can see the alternation of layers on the edge but I have not managed to make pictures that shows). Semar : 9,5cm without pesi Mouse : 8cm without pesi It's ritual blades? What is their symbolic? and / or function? |
30th November 2017, 10:29 PM | #2 |
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Nobody knows any information on it?
Are they souvenirs for tourists? |
2nd December 2017, 01:48 PM | #3 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
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Sorry, never seen something similar before!
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2nd December 2017, 07:44 PM | #4 |
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Paris (France)
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OK, thanks.
The problem with this kind of unusual find is that it's often very difficult to find information on it. Especially if you aren't from the culture that produces its items. |
3rd December 2017, 09:00 PM | #5 |
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Athanase, I have seen a few of these, they are a legitimate part of Balinese culture.
I have not previously posted to this thread because I really do not know much about them, and I had hoped that somebody else might know more than I do and would be able to respond better to your question. In about 1982 I visited Mangku Pande Made Wija who lived in a little village just outside Klungkung. He had just completed a keris that Dietrich Drescher had ordered from him, and he asked me to advise Mr Drescher that it was ready for him to collect. I examined the keris and complemented Pande Wija on his work. I then asked what sort of things he usually made, and he showed me a basketfull of axe blades of the type you have, but they were not yet decorated with silver. I asked what these were used for, and he gave me a long complicated response that I did not fully understand, but the impression I got was that they were for use in cremation ceremonies, mainly for cutting the ropes that bind up a corpse. The rather poor photo (2011) of a much more elaborate example of the same type of hand axe in the Den Pasar Museum supports my understanding of Pande Wija's explanation. I have never seen this type of hand axe for sale in markets in Bali, neither local markets nor tourist markets. |
3rd December 2017, 09:55 PM | #6 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
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Hello Alan,
do you have recognized the measurements of the two blades from Athanase? I can't believe that such small blades are for real use!? Regards, Detlef |
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