The Sendai Keris

David · 19th February 2011, 12:37 AM

Thank you for describing the symbols Gustav as they are not visible on either weapon in these photos.
I believe you are missing my point about the acquisition of these blades. The common tale seems to be that he got them in Manila. Perhaps he did get them in Spain. It doesn't really matter. His travels do seem to be pretty well documented and it does not seem that he was ever in Bali of Jawa. My point here is that in all likelihood these were not presented to him by any royal Indonesian court. They seem to have come to him second-hand just as he in turn passed them on to Date Masamune upon his return to Sendai. That is not to say that they were not a gift from someone of power, just not gifted from the source. My initial reason behind bringing up this point was Barry's speculation on the hilt and whether or not it was made specifically for a gift to a man of another culture. My point was that this was probably an normal hilt for it's time, not a special commission. The Christian symbols may have been added anywhere at anytime i suppose. They may have been added by Hasekura Tsunenaga himself for all we know so that he would feel more comfortable with his "pagan" artifact. In any case, as you acknowledge, this is mostly pure speculation so i am unclear exactly what part of my writings you are taking issue with.

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19th February 2011, 12:37 AM	#24
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,211	Thank you for describing the symbols Gustav as they are not visible on either weapon in these photos. I believe you are missing my point about the acquisition of these blades. The common tale seems to be that he got them in Manila. Perhaps he did get them in Spain. It doesn't really matter. His travels do seem to be pretty well documented and it does not seem that he was ever in Bali of Jawa. My point here is that in all likelihood these were not presented to him by any royal Indonesian court. They seem to have come to him second-hand just as he in turn passed them on to Date Masamune upon his return to Sendai. That is not to say that they were not a gift from someone of power, just not gifted from the source. My initial reason behind bringing up this point was Barry's speculation on the hilt and whether or not it was made specifically for a gift to a man of another culture. My point was that this was probably an normal hilt for it's time, not a special commission. The Christian symbols may have been added anywhere at anytime i suppose. They may have been added by Hasekura Tsunenaga himself for all we know so that he would feel more comfortable with his "pagan" artifact. In any case, as you acknowledge, this is mostly pure speculation so i am unclear exactly what part of my writings you are taking issue with.