KRIS HILTS by Ghiringhelli

[David]

Well, one of my KRISmas presents was this beautiful book. I cannot yet speak for the informational quality of the book as i have not read it yet, but the photography is top notch, with great detail shot and the hilts presented are all quite interesting. Even if the text adds nothing new it is just great eye-candy and i believe that there is always something new to be learned from just looking...

[Sajen]

Lucky man! Agree, it's a great book for looking with very nice photos.

[Battara]

Show is more?

[David]

Originally Posted by Battara

Show is more?

José, should i assume you meant to say "us".
I'm afraid that i don't see any more images on the net to show other than the cover...but this book is selling rather cheaply right now so you can probably afford to find more with your own copy...

[Battara]

Yes and thank you David. I am away from my computer and using my phone.

Oh.....well I had to try.....

[David]

Yes, a major book seller whose name i will not mention is having a great sale on this right now...

[Rick]

Just picked up a copy, only 2 were left .
Free 2 day shipping .
Prime is well worth the $89.00 a year .

[semar]

I have buy that book a time ago and in my opion
are more better books than this one
better safe the money
for a good book

regards semar

[A. G. Maisey]

Interesting comment Semar.

Could you please let us know exactly why, in your opinion, this "Kris Hilts" book is not particularly good?

I don't own a copy myself, its one of those books that I meant to buy as soon as it was published, then I got side tracked and forgot it.

It surprises me a little that you have found it to be inadequate, as Dr. Scolari (Vanna Scolari Ghiringhelli) is well versed in mainstream Hindu culture, and in fact is a teacher of the Hindu language, as such she is well versed in mainstream Hindu beliefs and I would have thought, ideally placed to comment upon the possibilities of iconographic interpretation of keris hilts.

Please enlighten us as to why you find that Dr. Scolari has failed to satisfy your expectations with the publication of this book.

Thank you,

Alan.

[David]

I am also curious Semar. Frankly there is not that much writing in the book. I have immediately spotted on error on page 16 that shows an image of Paku Buwono X that claims to be from the 17th century, but since photography wasn't invented until the 19th century i am pretty sure that this error is a typo, not a mistake of ignorance.
As i stated before, this is mainly a picture book. There is not a lot of writing. It is not an end all collection of every possible style of hilt, but one private collection, the Lanfranchi Collection. I have viewed all the photos which are beautifully executed and printed, but must admit i have yet to carefully read all the descriptive passages about the individual hilts. I don't expect great insights, but i also do not believe that was the intent of this book. The collection contains quite a few unusual examples and depicts them in great detail. That alone makes it well worth the cover price for me and for a photo book of this quality it is quite reasonably priced.

[semar]

first of all my engels is not very good so thats the reson that i not much comment give in some traets
and I had 5 jears ago a stroke in bali and i almost go to the other site so thats
also not very help full
aboud the book its a book with littel text and much picteurs and yes the picteurs are realy nice make bud i dont know of you have read the book form
JEAN ore Tonni Yunis than you know what i mean the give in my eyes more info than make nice picteurs


regards semar

[A. G. Maisey]

Pictures can have value in their own right, much depends upon the knowledge of the person looking at them. On the other hand, not all that has ever been written about the keris is of particularly high value.

I cannot comment on this book because I have not yet seen it, however, each of us is entitled to his own opinion. If you have a low opinion of this book Semar, I will freely accept that as your opinion, but that may not mean that the book has no value to somebody else.

[Jean]

I have a dedicated copy of this book and I love it!
The collection and the pictures are fantastic in my opinion. I had the privilege to meet the author and the owner who is not a kris specialist but an art collector with an excellent eye (he got his pieces from top notch galleries only).
Now I can understand a bit the reaction from Semar, most the pieces shown are very rare and antique and therefore dificult to identify and describe (I was solicited by the author but not very helpful). Accordingly I consider that the text is as good as it could be.
IMO this is not a book for an ordinary kris collector but rather for an ethnographic art lover.
Regards

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Now I can understand a bit the reaction from Semar, most the pieces shown are very rare and antique and therefore dificult to identify and describe (I was solicited by the author but not very helpful). Accordingly I consider that the text is as good as it could be.
IMO this is not a book for an ordinary kris collector but rather for an ethnographic art lover.

This is exactly what i do like about this book. Some very unusual hilts depicted here, ones i have not seen before. Obviously, the very best way to examine and study them would be in hand, but of course that is not possible. So these very detailed and well photographed images are the next best thing.

[A. G. Maisey]

I received a copy of this book today.

As already noted by others the photographs are exceptionally beautiful, and the hilts photographed are universally excellent examples. Truly fine works of art. I will reserve comment on the text.

David, the photo on P.16 is of PBX.

This photo was presented by his brother, Pangeran Ario Mataram during an audience with with Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Emma on 15 July 1898 at Soestdijk Palace. The photo was taken by Charlers & Co. of Semarang. It is a very well known photograph of PBX as a young man. PBX ruled from 1893 to 1939, in later life he became very corpulent, totally unrecognizable as the slim young aristocrat in the photograph.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I received a copy of this book today.

As already noted by others the photographs are exceptionally beautiful, and the hilts photographed are universally excellent examples. Truly fine works of art. I will reserve comment on the text.

David, the photo on P.16 is of PBX.

This photo was presented by his brother, Pangeran Ario Mataram during an audience with with Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Emma on 15 July 1898 at Soestdijk Palace. The photo was taken by Charlers & Co. of Semarang. It is a very well known photograph of PBX as a young man. PBX ruled from 1893 to 1939, in later life he became very corpulent, totally unrecognizable as the slim young aristocrat in the photograph.

Yes, i was pretty certain that the ID was correct and it was the date that was off.
As for the writing on the specific hilt i too will reserve comment, but will still recommend this book solely based upon the finely photographed hilts from this collection. The detailed images in this book can allow us to make our own observations independent of the author's ideas.

[drdavid]

I got my copy of this book a last week. Personally I think the photos are outstanding, although at times the captions can be a slightly difficult to line up with the photos as they are often on separate pages. These are beautiful hilts and there is much to ponder in the images. For me this is a worthwhile book although it is not packed with written fact.
DrD