Keris Sundang Melayu with a parrot hilt

[VVV]

Here is my latest Malay Keris. This is the first Sundang I have seen with a parrot hilt. Is it Terengganu?
I would appreciate feedback and comments from those of you who are familiar with this variation so I can learn more about it?

Michael

[Henk]

Michael,

Nice and atractive kris. Still my first impression is that it is rather resent. At least the wood.
The parrot reminds me to the touristic rencongs that show up from time to time although this parrot is better executed.

[VVV]

Originally Posted by Henk

Michael,

Nice and atractive kris. Still my first impression is that it is rather resent. At least the wood.
The parrot reminds me to the touristic rencongs that show up from time to time although this parrot is better executed.

Thanks Henk,

Unfortunately I had to use artificial light so the picture is a bit distorted regarding the patina and age of the wood.
But my estimate is also that it isn't 19th C, more probably around the beginning half of the 20th C.
The wood IRL looks a bit like the Keris Sundang Melayu in Tropen that they have on one of their postcards.
(The one with full silver hilt, same scabbard as mine but described as a Sulu Kris).

I haven't yet seen a rencong with a parrot hilt, only tumbuk ladas and a few sewars (and not all of them touristy)?

Frey's book, pict 19 a) and b), shows a quite resembling hilt motif. It's described as a hulu kakatua on a keris from
Perak in the collection of Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
And in van Duuren's The Kris there is also a Malay Keris with cockatoo hilt from Tropen in Amsterdam (p. 52).
Maybe mine comes from the same tourist shop in Medan as those?

Michael

[Newsteel]

Michael,
You are one lucky guy!!! It is beautiful... .

The sampir and scabbard is malay (most probably Terengganu). And typical also you can find at the bottom tip is in the form called the patat lipas, or roaches' back. But I doubt the blade is malay, rather looks like Moro or Sulu. Maybe the blade was fitted to a 'malay clothing'?

As for the parrot hilt, this is the signature of master woodcarver Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook in Jertih, Terengganu. It soon become widely popular. Probably the blade is around early 20th century with new fittings late 20th century.

[apolaki]

how does this differ from moro kris?

[David]

I disagree with Newsteel. I think this is most probably a Malay sundang. Just take a look at the gonjo and the way the greneng goes up the blade. This is not a Moro style.

[Henk]

Originally Posted by VVV

I haven't yet seen a rencong with a parrot hilt, only tumbuk ladas and a few sewars (and not all of them touristy)?
Michael

Michael,

The sewars, that´s what i ment. But those tourist sewars are something completely different. But seeing your parrot hilt i remembered those hilts.

Don´t misunderstand me. I certainly like the appearance of this kris but as you mentioned by yourself it is probably around the beginning half of the 20th century. I don´t call this one tourist and flashlight can give a complete different image.

[VVV]

Thanks all for your comments,

Newsteel; Is Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook really the only one who carves this hilt?
Or is he famous for rediscovering it or perfecting it? Please explain some more?

David; I agree on the ganja and the greneng not looking Moro.
But this blade is much broader and quite different than the regular Malay blade?

Henk; No bad feelings, just couldn't help thinking about the Medan tourist shop.

Michael

[PenangsangII]

Originally Posted by David

I disagree with Newsteel. I think this is most probably a Malay sundang. Just take a look at the gonjo and the way the greneng goes up the blade. This is not a Moro style.

yes, the ganja and the greneng looks Malay, but the inscriptions indicate heavy moro influence

[Newsteel]

Hi Michael,

No I do not suggest he carved this hilt. I do not have any good source about Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook. What was known is that he is a well-known mastercarver at Terengganu. He is also mentioned in the book 'Spirit of the Woods'. If I'm not wrong, he is the first to carve kakaktua (parrot) hilt for keris, only meant for the sultan. This form soon got attention and a lot more carvers tend to follow it.

As for the blade, it is hard to actually pin point the exact region. Most malay sundang would have a smaller size and the metal preference is high carbon steel which tends to look more greyish black. But this is not a main factor when identifying malay sundang. We have example which looks Javanese with sogokan and tikel alis. But surprisingly came from Sulu. Picture below taken from Bill Marsh collection.

[Marcokeris]

Michael IMO the hit could be also a repaired hit where the original top piece (maybe lost) has been changed with a parrot's head (the same of Nautilus for some rare hits).

[David]

Originally Posted by Newsteel

As for the blade, it is hard to actually pin point the exact region. Most malay sundang would have a smaller size and the metal preference is high carbon steel which tends to look more greyish black. But this is not a main factor when identifying malay sundang. We have example which looks Javanese with sogokan and tikel alis. But surprisingly came from Sulu. Picture below taken from Bill Marsh collection.

Bill Marsh's kris is a very old one from what i can see, what Cato calls the "archaic" style and dates to the 18th century. Michael's is obviously much newer than that. Could be early 20th C, give or take. The features you see on Bill's kris were more common in that day when the Moro kris was much closer to the look of Indonesian keris. But at this later date i have not seen any Moro kris that have a gonjo slant and greneng like Michael's sundang. The dress is Malay and the blade shows some very Malay attributes. Yes, the engraved lines are very Moro influenced. Still, given the entire package, i would lay my money on a Malay origin for the blade as well as the dress.

[Rick]

From what I see in the pictures of this piece the blade is quite wide for it's length .
This is a proportion ratio (I have) not seen before in Moro blades .

The engraving is similar to Moro work yet seems subtly different .

I think it's all Malay .

And beautiful !

[VVV]

Thanks for all comments!

On the engravings I have the same motif on 3 of my 4 Terengganu dressed Keris Sundang.
So I thought it was a typical Malay motif?
I tried to find more info about Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook in the Spirit of Wood book, but couldn't?
I also noticed that the smaller hulu kakatua, for regular-sized keris, is represented in the A4 Kerner book too.
So I assume that it has some age, several carvers produced it and it´s not that uncommon?
It looks like the hilt was made from the same block of wood as the sheath so I don't think it was an isolated repair.
Maybe a complete later redress however?
My Terengganu Keris Sundang #4 is on scabbard renovation at the moment but it also has a quite wide blade.
It's about the same size as this one.

Michael

[kai]

Hello Michael,

Where do you find all those Terengganu examples?!?

How is the clamp attached?

It looks like the hilt was made from the same block of wood as the sheath so I don't think it was an isolated repair.
Maybe a complete later redress however?

To me it seems that the blade may also not be very old - just going by the workmanship. BTW, can you see what caused the notches visible in the separation line?

I'd guess that the whole ensemble got made en suite. Maybe WW2 (+/- 30 years)?

Regards,
Kai

[VVV]

Hello Kai,

It's interesting that you asked about the clamps as it seems that the Malay clamps most often
doesn't seem to be connected to the grip?
That's the case on 3 of mine and the 4th has lost its clamp.
Also I have noticed that they quite often don't get replaced, in case of loss?
It seems too as if only one clamp is more usual than two.
And this undependent of age.
I can't see what caused the notches but I doubt that this blade could be from 1975 (1945 + 30 years)?
Please let me know, either on the forum or private, how you could conclude this based on the pictures alone?
Or maybe I misunderstood you?

Michael

[BluErf]

Congratulations, Michael. A fine piece. Peninsula Malay Sundang, and yes from Terengganu. The parrot pommel flows nicely with the rest of the piece.

Tengku Ibrahim can be described as someone obsessed with fine details. His works do not follow tradition closely, but the fine-ness in his works makes up for it. He is also known for the crocodile hilt form, which is really unheard of before. There's a keris on display now in the Asian Civilisations Museum here in Singapore that was carved by Tengku Ibrahim. It was his intention to have that keris presented to the ACM. It is a very fine example of his work. When I have the time, I'll bring my camera and tripod to the museum to take a good photo of it.

[kai]

Hello Michael,

It's interesting that you asked about the clamps as it seems that the Malay clamps most often doesn't seem to be connected to the grip?
That's the case on 3 of mine and the 4th has lost its clamp.

I think I see a narrow opening on the lower base of the brass grip which seems to suggest that there once was such a metal strip present to secure the clamp (as usually found in Moro kris), isn't it?

I can't see what caused the notches but I doubt that this blade could be from 1975 (1945 + 30 years)?

Well, note that my guess was 1915-1975; this is only based on workmanship which just doesn't seem on par with old-style work (and this doesn't seem to be an antique village style, poor warrior kind of blade either): separation line not well finished, uneven engraving lines (especially including the okir motifs), very shallow central fuller, carving work on both sides of the gangya lack the usual "flow" IMVHO, not very careful decoration of the brass grip, and the overall finish of blade surface seems to be pretty rough. Nothing definitive but had you not mentioned a decent patina on the wood, I would had been hard pressed to suggest anything else than post-WW2. Without examining the piece personally, I could be way off, of course. Don't think so though...

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Hello Kai Wee,

I'd be very interested in a pic of Tengku Ibrahim's work!

Tengku Ibrahim can be described as someone obsessed with fine details.

Would you think that the kakatua pommel shown here seems to be up to his standards?

Regards,
Kai

[jonng]

I think this is the one. I've cropped it because the file is too big. A hurried shot though.

jonathan

[Marcokeris]

Jonng: beautiful hit!
BluErf: Is it possible to see a crocodile hit form? Is a hit for kudi or other knife?

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by jonng

I think this is the one. I've cropped it because the file is too big. A hurried shot though.

jonathan

Yup, that's the one.
Btw, congrats on your newest acquisition.. the old ivory jawa demam hilt.

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by Marcokeris

Jonng: beautiful hit!
BluErf: Is it possible to see a crocodile hit form? Is a hit for kudi or other knife?

Example of the crocodile keris hilt...
The elephant and tiger hilts are suitable for golok, sword.. etc.

[VVV]

Kai; taking a closer look at the hilt you are correct that there once was bands that secured the clamp.
Jonathan & Shahrial; thanks for posting the parrot - as well as the croc, elephant and tiger - hilts.

Michael

[jonng]

hmm...is the crocodile's head carved with a slight tilt or does it just look straight at you? These sure need some getting used to.

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by jonng

hmm...is the crocodile's head carved with a slight tilt or does it just look straight at you? These sure need some getting used to.

It's staring straight.. the nature of the croc.. it's more ornamental rather that a fighting class hilt, cumbersome, imho.

[BluErf]

Thanks to Jon and Shahrial for saving me some work!

But Shahrial - where did you get you picture from?

[jonng]

Yup, and I would really like to have a good look at that tajong lurking behind our three friends too!

[Marcokeris]

Originally Posted by Alam Shah

Example of the crocodile keris hilt...
The elephant and tiger hilts are suitable for golok, sword.. etc.

Thanks Alam for nice pic. The hits seems all really well made . The crocodile hit remembers to me one i found during my last trip to Indonesia: not a keris handle but a knife handle with a face between a reptile....a snake...a crocodile...a Banjarmasin Navasari face. This week i'll do some photos about this hit (...and other unusual parrots hits)

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by BluErf

.. But Shahrial - where did you get you picture from?

It's an old picture from the workshop of the late Rosman Ramli of Kampung Banggol, Kota Baru, Kelantan. Also known as May Keris. One of the master carver of some repute whom had passed away on 21 August 2008. His passing is a great loss to the art of malay woodcarving. May he rest in peace.

Some of his past handiwork can be seen (( here )).
For Keris Collectors Online members @ multiply.com, you can view it (( here )), an article with more pictures.