Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Keris Warung Kopi

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 22nd April 2018, 11:49 AM   #1
Gustav
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,192
Default Keris of Peter the Great

Dear All,

perhaps this one deserves his own thread.

Despite the very mysterious description on online collection site of Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, this is Keris Peter the Great brought back to Russia from Netherlands in 1698 and was part of he's Kunstkammer collection. As such it was presented also in a Hermitage exhibition on Peter the Great in Amsterdam in 2013.

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/p...c+armor/515178

The dimensions of it as given on museums site - total length: 46,0 cm; blade length: 36,6 cm.

It belongs to a small group of very similar Keris. Another one was 1714 presented to Peter the Great's ally, Augustus II the Strong. It's in Dresden, Inv. Nr. 2880.

This group represent one of the pinnacles in history of Keris art.

The Keris in Hermitage is also an important one to me personally, because it was the first one I have seen. I was 10 years old then.
Attached Images
       

Last edited by Gustav; 22nd April 2018 at 12:00 PM.
Gustav is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23rd April 2018, 05:34 PM   #2
kai
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,213
Thumbs up

Hello Gustav,

Thanks for sharing the story of this "personal" keris of yours - no wonder that you're aiming to set high standards on things keris...


Quote:
Despite the very mysterious description on online collection site of Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, this is Keris Peter the Great brought back to Russia from Netherlands in 1698 and was part of he's Kunstkammer collection. As such it was presented also in a Hermitage exhibition on Peter the Great in Amsterdam in 2013.

It belongs to a small group of very similar Keris. Another one was 1714 presented to Peter the Great's ally, Augustus II the Strong. It's in Dresden, Inv. Nr. 2880.

This group represent one of the pinnacles in history of Keris art.
It's a shame that there seem to be no surviving records of Peter's keris from the Oranje collection (at least that seems to be the most plausible source) - it would be really interesting to establish when it arrived in Europe!

Does the pamor qualify as ngindhen? The upper 2 thirds of the blade seem to exhibit an extensively surface-manipulated mlumah type - the similarity to the pamor in Dresden 2880 is neat!

Regards,
Kai
kai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23rd April 2018, 06:43 PM   #3
David
Keris forum moderator
 
David's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
It's a shame that there seem to be no surviving records of Peter's keris from the Oranje collection (at least that seems to be the most plausible source) - it would be really interesting to establish when it arrived in Europe!
Hi Gustav. Like Kai i am interested in hearing a bit more about the provenance of this keris. While i do not doubt your attribution, as you have pointed out, the Hermitage exhibition description is not very revealing, does not seem to mention Peter the Great and dates this keris as early 18th century rather than 17th century. Can you tell us the source of your information on it and provide any links to further information? Google searches don't seem to yield much. Thanks.
David is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23rd April 2018, 06:52 PM   #4
kai
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,213
Post

Hello David,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gustav
Despite the very mysterious description on online collection site of Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, this is Keris Peter the Great brought back to Russia from Netherlands in 1698 and was part of he's Kunstkammer collection. As such it was presented also in a Hermitage exhibition on Peter the Great in Amsterdam in 2013.
The connection of this keris with Peter the Great's visit in the Netherlands seems reasonably well established. It is its provenance before this event which would be great to have, too! As with many of the very early keris in European collections, this needs a lot of detective work...

Regards,
Kai
kai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23rd April 2018, 07:22 PM   #5
David
Keris forum moderator
 
David's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kai
The connection of this keris with Peter the Great's visit in the Netherlands seems reasonably well established. It is its provenance before this event which would be great to have, too! As with many of the very early keris in European collections, this needs a lot of detective work...
Well, as i pointed out Kai, i was not doubting Gustav's attribution, just hoping for sources where i could personally read more about it for myself.
David is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24th April 2018, 01:47 PM   #6
Roland_M
Member
 
Roland_M's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 523
Default

Thank you Gustav for posting the pictures of this beauty.

The pamor is quite difficult to see but as far as I can see the pattern, it is extraordinary well made.

It's another valuable evidence for my simple theory, that the old blades are the better ones, worldwide! Whether in Japan, Indonesia, Asia or Europe, the old boys knew how to forge a most beautiful and high quality blade!


Roland
Roland_M is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24th April 2018, 05:55 PM   #7
Treeslicer
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 65
Default Many thanks for posting this one, Gustav!

Absolutely beautiful.
Treeslicer is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:32 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.