New Member's questions

David · 22nd October 2013, 12:26 AM

Hi Raymond. Welcome to the forum. You are correct that your keris holders are of recent manufacture. Your Madurese keris seems to be in a variation of what is commonly referred to as "soldier" dress, a style which was popular among dutch soldiers who brought these keris back as souvenirs from their tour of duty their. The style continues to be used to this day and i would imagine this sheath is fairly contemporary. I cannot comment much on the blade from the images you present other than to say it seems to have a crudely carved sokogan which may have been added later. A separate gonjo is not an indicator of age in indonesian keris.
That blade in your Javanese dress does not look Javanese to me. Seems it might be of Bugis origins, but again the photographs don't show the blade well enough for a full accounting.
The hilts on both of these keris should probably be turned 45 degrees towards the front of the blade.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

22nd October 2013, 12:26 AM	#2
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,211	Hi Raymond. Welcome to the forum. You are correct that your keris holders are of recent manufacture. Your Madurese keris seems to be in a variation of what is commonly referred to as "soldier" dress, a style which was popular among dutch soldiers who brought these keris back as souvenirs from their tour of duty their. The style continues to be used to this day and i would imagine this sheath is fairly contemporary. I cannot comment much on the blade from the images you present other than to say it seems to have a crudely carved sokogan which may have been added later. A separate gonjo is not an indicator of age in indonesian keris. That blade in your Javanese dress does not look Javanese to me. Seems it might be of Bugis origins, but again the photographs don't show the blade well enough for a full accounting. The hilts on both of these keris should probably be turned 45 degrees towards the front of the blade.