Keris Handle / Hilts Appreciation

[A. G. Maisey]

Rasjid, I feel that perhaps you might need to be a little more specific in respect of "kraton pieces".

Exactly what do you mean?

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to handle a number of keris that belonged to the Surakarta Karaton. Some were Karaton pusakas, some were keris that had been gifted to various members of the royal family, some were keris that were identified as being for future gifts. My memory is that none of these keris had dress that was remarkable in any way, and many of the keris were very, very ordinary from the point of view of art appreciation.

However, I have also seen the some dress keris worn by various members of the Surakarta Karaton heirarchy, and some of these were sufficient to send you blind.On the other hand some others were quite plain.

Different keris dress can be worn for different occasions, and different dress can be deemed suitable for wear by different ranks. Thus "karaton pieces", or "karaton keris" is not really enough to base a comment on.