P a t r e m -- The Smaller Keris

[David]

Originally Posted by Alam Shah

I see an abstract of "a mother sitting, taking care of her baby", or is it my imagination.

Well of course it is your imagination....but i am also imagining a similar scene.
I am curious how you can distiguish that the patrem you have linked to is a "boy's keris". Do you have provenence on this piece or is there a particular clue that points to it's use by a boy instead of a women?
Very nice patrem, Ganja. I agree with Alam Shah that the medak is unnecessary with that selut and it would make the appearence of the hilt that much smaller without it. I understand the problem of finding a small enough hilt for patrems. My Sulawesi one came without a hilt and i feel the one i have found for it is just a bit too large...but it will due for now.
Since we are on the subject, i wonder if anyone can share more information about the patrem in the context of Indonesian society. They are relatively rare, so it would seem that a patrem would only be owned by a small class of women (and some small boys as well ). What do we know about the patrem's place in society?