Nice Kris

[Spunjer]

i always wonder why naga symbols are found on barung and not on krises. yes, there are krises with naga incised on the wide part of the blade, but i haven't seen a talismanic symbol of the naga itself on the blade. i figure it's out there somewhere, and it's just a matter of time before i'd see pictures of it. well, what do you know? the moros of yore prolly heard my crazy conundrum, so lo and behold, they sent their redhead southern brethren from north carolina to deliver a kris so full of nagas that this baby must have been Medusa's sword:
gentlemen, i introduce to you one heck of a freakin' kris; 26 inches long blade and 2 inches wide of serpentine fury:

[Spunjer]

Moar!!!!

[A.alnakkas]

I have no knowledge of these but this one is really beautiful !

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo everybody,

A related thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...0940#post70940

Best,

[Spunjer]

Hi Amuk,
Thanks for the link. Yes, that's what i meant about the incised naga on the wide part of the blade. What i'm interested is if there are krises that has naga inlay similar to the ones closest to the sharp tip of the blade. I've only seen those type of inlays on barungs.

[Battara]

It is a wonderful piece and the silver inlay is amazing!

Great and unusual piece.

[Maurice]

Hi Ron,

What's the purpose of the clamp here?
It looks very attractive, but I guess that's the only thing why it is there: as decoration?
So this probably is a "show off" piece or could it be ceremonial?

Maurice

[mrwizard]

Very beautiful piece indeed

Originally Posted by Maurice

What's the purpose of the clamp here?
It looks very attractive, but I guess that's the only thing why it is there: as decoration?
So this probably is a "show off" piece or could it be ceremonial?

From the photos it looks like the clamp is attached to a rivet going through the kris. So this would be not only be a very attractive but also a very functional clamp

Best Regards,
Thilo

[Spunjer]

That's the baka-baka... instead of the gun trigger look-a-like type baka-baka, the panday decided to abbreviate the clamp and pinned it right thru the kris, which served the same purpose. I'm guessing it was done that way so it wouldn't interfere with the overall theme. You could say the pin itself are the naga's eyes. Pretty slick, huh? Oh, and the gangya's separated...

[Spunjer]

Mrwizard beat me to it... dam this android phones.. or maybe i'm just a slow typer...

[Amuk Murugul]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

Hi Amuk,
Thanks for the link. Yes, that's what i meant about the incised naga on the wide part of the blade. What i'm interested is if there are krises that has naga inlay similar to the ones closest to the sharp tip of the blade. I've only seen those type of inlays on barungs.

Hullo Spunjer,

I'm not sure what you mean, but my kris has the naga inlay all along the blade, with its tail ending almost at the tip.

Best,

[Rick]

Beautiful work !
What else can you say .

[Dimasalang]

Wowowee! Thats just crazy!
Just when you think you seen them all... You guys never cease to amaze me!

[Spunjer]

Originally Posted by Amuk Murugul

Hullo Spunjer,

I'm not sure what you mean, but my kris has the naga inlay all along the blade, with its tail ending almost at the tip.

Best,

hi amuk,

it's this particular naga inlay i'm referring to:



i've never seen it on a kris before, although it's relatively common on barungs:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11110

the naga incised on the sorsoran (to borrow the keris terminology) of the above kris is somewhat similar to yours.

[migueldiaz]

spunjer, you hit the jackpot partner! thanks for posting the pics!!

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

That's the baka-baka... instead of the gun trigger look-a-like type baka-baka, the panday decided to abbreviate the clamp and pinned it right thru the kris, which served the same purpose. I'm guessing it was done that way so it wouldn't interfere with the overall theme. You could say the pin itself are the naga's eyes. Pretty slick, huh? Oh, and the gangya's separated...

Yes I notice the pin that goes through it now, when I'm looking at it on my laptop.
I didn't noticed it before on my cellphone.
Such pin however can't be as strong as the "normal" version of a baca-baca IMO, but very attractive this way.

Do you think this kind of handle is the original one to this great blade?

Great it has also a seperate gangya!

[Spunjer]

@lorenz: always looking for that one of a kind . yeah, pa swerte-swerte nga, noh?

@maurice: you know, i've been thinking about the hilt. when i first got it, i've thought about the hilt, if it was original or not. upon looking at my archival photos, i noticed on these type of krises (naga sorsoran), the handles are rather simple. you would think it should be junggayan or something. but looking at all the pics, it made sense; it's reverse of what we normally see. whereas some normal looking blades has very elaborate handles, these types IMHO utilizes plain handles so it doesn't take anything away from the blade. in other words, you could say it's all about the blades on these types. as far as stength i'd think this would be stronger, yes? whereas the majority just clamps, this one is riveted through.
the baka2x on this one blows me away! i just love how it follow the curves of the naga AND the indentation on the blade itself. i know this for sure; the baka2x on this one is original
love the fretwork as well. pretty cool stuff

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

@lorenz: always looking for that one of a kind . yeah, pa swerte-swerte nga, noh?

you are one lucky son of a gun all right

with all those serpents, i'd say offhand that it is a maranaw kris. i mean just look at their houses (torogan), with the nagas all over those floor beam extensions (panolong).

would you say too that the kris really has maranaw traits? thanks.

[Spunjer]

yeah, definitely maranao.
similarity on the panolong and the sorsoran:


it's uncanny. thanks for the pic, bro

[Battara]

And it is definitely Maranao okir work. Even more beautiful up close.

[CharlesS]

Great piece...looks like it might be a big 'un too.....

[migueldiaz]

thanks, ron! since i'm not that familiar with the finer points of analyzing a kris, i have 'moar' queries. based on the rendition of the 'jaw', can we also say that the kris indeed exhibits maranaw traits? attached is a guide which perhaps you yourself prepared for robert fulton? thanks again, bro

[Sajen]

What a beautiful kris! Love the baca-baca. Thank you very much for sharing.

Regards,

Detlef

[kino]

SCORE!!!!
Really like that clamp design, very unusual, I 've never seen one like it.
Congrat-tuli-on, bay....

[Spunjer]

you can still see the "jutting jaw"on this one, albeit not as pronounced. i notice this on the much later ones.

@ kino:
lagi, bay! just trying to catch up with you, holmes, lol...

[Battara]

Lorenz - nice post of these back to back and very accurate.

The only caveate is that when it comes to later pieces like Ron's, then things get fuzzier. Therefore one must go by other traits as well.

[migueldiaz]

Jose, thanks for the additional tips!

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

thanks, ron! since i'm not that familiar with the finer points of analyzing a kris, i have 'moar' queries. based on the rendition of the 'jaw', can we also say that the kris indeed exhibits maranaw traits? attached is a guide which perhaps you yourself prepared for robert fulton? thanks again, bro

Thank you for posting this picture, I think it is very helpful not only for me!

Regards,

Detlef

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Thank you for posting this picture, I think it is very helpful not only for me!

Regards,

Detlef

Detlef, am happy to be of help somehow. Thanks, too and regards!

[migueldiaz]

Here's a similar piece, and it's a huge kris (another one is shown for comparison). The naga-themed kris has the following dimensions -- overall length: 28.9" and blade lt.: 24.6".

What's unusual about this naga kris is the guard is not separate from the blade. The only reason I can think of is that perhaps the maker did not want to have the separation line interfering with the deeply curving body of the naga near the hilt. Or can it be the other way around? That is, since the guard and the blade are integrated, then the naga can be placed as close as possible to the hilt.

In any case, in general what would be the latest thoughts of forumites on krises where the the guard and blades are not separate? Thanks in advance!