Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Keris Hilts made of Ceramic, Stone and other odd materials

A. G. Maisey · 9th January 2016, 06:15 AM

I would need to see photos to give a balanced opinion, but generally speaking ceramic and glass and stone hilts that have any age are so rare as to be almost non-existent.

I have a collection of around 500 keris hilts. That is not counting the other few hundred that are on keris. I've got 3 or 4 glass hilts, all of which have been made in the last 20 years. I have no stone hilts that are old. I have no ceramic hilts at all, and have never seen an old ceramic hilt, although I have seen several ceramic hilts that had been processed to appear old.

I'd leave the "tourist" idea out of it. This idea that tourists provide a viable market for such things is ridiculous. Mostly these odd variations are offered on the local market in Indonesia, in places that tourists never penetrate.

9th January 2016, 06:15 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,964	I would need to see photos to give a balanced opinion, but generally speaking ceramic and glass and stone hilts that have any age are so rare as to be almost non-existent. I have a collection of around 500 keris hilts. That is not counting the other few hundred that are on keris. I've got 3 or 4 glass hilts, all of which have been made in the last 20 years. I have no stone hilts that are old. I have no ceramic hilts at all, and have never seen an old ceramic hilt, although I have seen several ceramic hilts that had been processed to appear old. I'd leave the "tourist" idea out of it. This idea that tourists provide a viable market for such things is ridiculous. Mostly these odd variations are offered on the local market in Indonesia, in places that tourists never penetrate.