Return of the giant Minang keris
Acquired the blade with the hulu and pendoko a few years back. Finally had it dressed, and quite nicely too.
The model for the sheath belongs to one of my Sumatran Bugis kerises, which closely resembled another keris from a picture in the book: "Walk in Splendour". The book is about Minang Kabau textiles, art and culture. Some Minang kerises are actually dressed in such Bugis-influenced "Chieftain"-style sheaths. Incidentally, the person wearing the keris in the book was a Minang Chieftain.
The kemuning wood with chatoyancy is rather hard to come by these days, and the carver, Mr Nik Rashidee, had to go through about half a dozen pieces of raw material before getting the good portion for the sampir. The dark colouration on the sampir is not a patch, but natural to the wood.
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