Taste and Collection

Royston · 12th April 2011, 10:56 AM

My Grandfather had a German Sawback Butcher bayonet that his elder brother brought back from the front on his first ( and only ) leave sometime 1915 / 16.
I always coveted this and Grandad promised to give it to me on my 16th birthday. He kept upping the age and I eventually got it when I was about 30 !!
It started me collecting bayonets which I did for many years until in January 1981 I started working in S.E Asia.
I sold the bayonets and became completely hooked on the weapons of the Far East. At that time there was so much available in the UK and very few people wanted it. Wonderful for the few of us that did collect at the time.

I still have the butcher bayonet, it will never be sold by me.

Roy

David · 12th April 2011, 03:49 PM

Isn't it obvious...i was a Balinese prince in a past life...

Seriously i'm am not completely certain what has drawn me to the cultures that i collect from. I came across my first Moro kris in 1981 in an antique mall in New Hampshire and that is what started it all. Obviously i already had an interest in antiques or i wouldn't have been there. I had know idea what this sword was, but it so intrigued me (and prices for this stuff were low back then) so i bought it and began researching it. I found the Moro very interesting, but didn't really start collecting like mad, just reading what i could find (which wasn't much in the pre-internet days

).
Then i had a friend who was leaving town and had a Javanese keris he wanted to sell. I didn't know much about these at the time either, just that it looked like a baby Moro kris. So i bought that and started researching them as well. Still not a lot that i found way back then.
Then, in 2003 the internet changed my world (well, it changed everyone's world

). Yes, i was a late starter. Searching the net led me here. Suddenly i was "home".

There were actually other people who where interested in the same thing i was. Not only that, i suddenly found markets in which to explore and acquire more for my meager collection. I found more books on the subject as well and began to build my library. My interests took a strong lean towards Jawa and Bali (though i still collect Moro as well). I think i am strongly attracted to certain spiritual and magickal philosophies of the area, especially the indigenous animistic ones. I also find the history fascinating, if not tragic at times. Least to say that my collection has explodedsince, at least in the area of Indonesian keris. While i can count my Moro weapons on both hands i am completely uncertain how many keris i have at this point. I once told my wife that i would stop at 21 blades and that day is long past.

12th April 2011, 10:56 AM	#1
Royston Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Poole England Posts: 443	My Grandfather had a German Sawback Butcher bayonet that his elder brother brought back from the front on his first ( and only ) leave sometime 1915 / 16. I always coveted this and Grandad promised to give it to me on my 16th birthday. He kept upping the age and I eventually got it when I was about 30 !! It started me collecting bayonets which I did for many years until in January 1981 I started working in S.E Asia. I sold the bayonets and became completely hooked on the weapons of the Far East. At that time there was so much available in the UK and very few people wanted it. Wonderful for the few of us that did collect at the time. I still have the butcher bayonet, it will never be sold by me. Roy

12th April 2011, 03:49 PM	#2
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,238	Isn't it obvious...i was a Balinese prince in a past life... Seriously i'm am not completely certain what has drawn me to the cultures that i collect from. I came across my first Moro kris in 1981 in an antique mall in New Hampshire and that is what started it all. Obviously i already had an interest in antiques or i wouldn't have been there. I had know idea what this sword was, but it so intrigued me (and prices for this stuff were low back then) so i bought it and began researching it. I found the Moro very interesting, but didn't really start collecting like mad, just reading what i could find (which wasn't much in the pre-internet days ). Then i had a friend who was leaving town and had a Javanese keris he wanted to sell. I didn't know much about these at the time either, just that it looked like a baby Moro kris. So i bought that and started researching them as well. Still not a lot that i found way back then. Then, in 2003 the internet changed my world (well, it changed everyone's world ). Yes, i was a late starter. Searching the net led me here. Suddenly i was "home". There were actually other people who where interested in the same thing i was. Not only that, i suddenly found markets in which to explore and acquire more for my meager collection. I found more books on the subject as well and began to build my library. My interests took a strong lean towards Jawa and Bali (though i still collect Moro as well). I think i am strongly attracted to certain spiritual and magickal philosophies of the area, especially the indigenous animistic ones. I also find the history fascinating, if not tragic at times. Least to say that my collection has explodedsince, at least in the area of Indonesian keris. While i can count my Moro weapons on both hands i am completely uncertain how many keris i have at this point. I once told my wife that i would stop at 21 blades and that day is long past.