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Originally Posted by Cinna
Your forum has just one 'hunchbacked kris' example that I've found. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...3&postcount=37
To my unpracticed eye, it looks like Twalen/Semar.
If anyone has images to share of a dwarf on a kris hilt, please tell me where to find the image(s), or post a photo if you can. What makes you think it's a dwarf? Thanks for your consideration, CINNA |
What makes you think that this hilt example is "hunchbacked" (other than the title of the thread which i find misleading). The figure is bent forward, but this seems more a matter of posture than deformity.
I have also never heard Twalen or Semar described as hunchbacked. He is not exactly an attractive fellow, and is known for his bulging rear end and belly, but this seems to be more obesity than deformity. What's more, Twalen/Semar are characters of classic and epic mythological story telling. They (and their counter-parts) should not be confused with actual members of court. Wayang characters have often be used in figurative keris hilts, but that is not the same as depicting real dwarves, hunchbacks or other deformed humans who may or may not have been present in the actual courts of some Indonesian kingdoms.
I am always amazed at the diversity of hilt forms throughout the Indonesian Archipelago, but i have not witnessed the kind of deformity of which you speak in keris hilts. Often we do see figures in somewhat distorted body postures, bent forward or squatting, but i do not recall actual deformed figures in an common form. Demons are common, with bulging eyes and fangs. Various Hindu gods appear on Balinese keris. Still, new forms come to light regularly. The bottom line though is that this is not the norm for figural keris hilts, so even if we were to find the oddity i do wonder what you are trying to determine by this line of inquiry. If someone were to come up with a figural hilt that depicted a dwarf, what would this tell you about keris or the specific Indonesian culture that hilt originated in?
I am also curious if your article goes into any further detail to discuss time frame or which specific kingdoms in Jawa or Southwest Sulawesi they are writing about. There were many over the centuries. What Hindus in general believe about dwarves may have little to do with what the cultures of Jawa and Sulawesi thought, especially after the 15th century when these areas converted to Islam. The use of figurative hilts went into decline at this point in adherence to Islamic law. You may do better to look more to Bali than these other areas of Indonesia where Hinduism remained after the general switch to Islam by other Indonesian kingdoms. Still, i can't think of any Balinese form i have seen that could be called a dwarf per se.