large Keris

[Iliad]

David,
Thank you for your helpful and encouraging words.
You are correct in describing me as a general collector of weapons. Here in New Zealand I would be described as a "Magpie" collector. A Magpie is a bird which compulsively collects bright and shiny objects and takes them back to the nest. They can't be eaten, so are of no practical use to the bird, so I guess that he just looks at them with bird pleasure!
Could any other forum members be described as "Magpies"?
Best,
Brian

[A. G. Maisey]

Regarding use of this style of dress by Balinese people.

This is a non-traditional style of wrongko that does not fit any purpose in Balinese society --- except to sell to foreigners. There is a Balinese style, that is usually associated with a Balinese settlement in Madura, that echoes this scabbard style, it has a metal mask of Boma on its face.

With the early ones that were made, and through to the 1970's, maybe even early 1980's, old blades very often had this style of dress made for them, simply so they could be sold in the souvenir shops. It was not a re-fit job, not a matter of making the scabbard and then fitting a blade, it was a process of:- acquire blade, make dress, sell to tourist.

The uwer on this keris will be found to have plastic "jewels". It looks OK, but the "jewels" will be little bits of plastic.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Regarding use of this style of dress by Balinese people.

This is a non-traditional style of wrongko that does not fit any purpose in Balinese society --- except to sell to foreigners. There is a Balinese style, that is usually associated with a Balinese settlement in Madura, that echoes this scabbard style, it has a metal mask of Boma on its face.

With the early ones that were made, and through to the 1970's, maybe even early 1980's, old blades very often had this style of dress made for them, simply so they could be sold in the souvenir shops. It was not a re-fit job, not a matter of making the scabbard and then fitting a blade, it was a process of:- acquire blade, make dress, sell to tourist.

The uwer on this keris will be found to have plastic "jewels". It looks OK, but the "jewels" will be little bits of plastic.

Thank you Alan for clarification! This is what I have thought. And it is also a explanation that the better ( and I think also early ) ones of this scabbards house sometimes relative good blades while the roughly carved ones ( and therefore later ones ) house most of the time the KLO blades with batik pamor. At least is this what I have seen since I have had interest too keris.

[A. G. Maisey]

The reason that the early examples of this type of dress used old blades, sometimes of rather acceptable quality, is that way back then keris in Bali were very much undervalued.

In the 1960's and 1970's the value of a keris in Bali was next to nothing.

So, people had old blades hanging around, that had no scabbard or hilt, and thus were unsaleable to the tourists as souvenirs, because the tourists, being mostly westerners, did not understand that the true value of the keris, both monetary and spiritual, was in the blade.

To make these old blades saleable they were given to the carvers in Mas who developed a form of dress that displayed the carvers' skills and which was attractive to the visitors to Bali as a souvenir.

Eventually the real blades ran out. There was now a market for these souvenir keris but no real blades were left to fill the scabbards.

So the Balinese people began to produce keris blades made from flat iron and give this flat iron a false pamor.

The tourists didn't care, they were buying the carving, not the blade.


People go to Bali now and come home with their suitcases full of clothes with prestige labels --- all fake of course, but in the best examples as good as, or maybe even better than the originals. I know two professional women who go to Bali every six months to update their wardrobes.

Factories are set up to produce the famous brands of surf clothes. Factories that the Australian owners then go to Bali and burn down, only to see them in production again in 6 months time. Or sooner.

In Bali, as in Indonesia in general, fake everything floods the market. You really do need to be very, very skilled and knowledgeable to buy any genuine article of any kind from an Indonesian source.

But back in the 1960's, 1970's, and even as late as 1982, it was very different. If you went to Bali for a holiday you always took your old Levi jeans and a couple of second-hand surf towels. A pair of Levi jeans would cover a week's accommodation in a homestay.Including breakfast.Black rice pudding or banana pancakes.

You could exchange the towels for the other comforts of home.


When we consider anything at all to do with keris we need to consider not the keris, but the condition of the society at the relevant time.

This is as true of the recent past as it is of the distant past.

Don't ask your questions in terms of just the keris.

Ask your questions in terms of the society.

[Sajen]

Thank you very much for the further and detailed execution, very feasible and informative.

Regards,

Detlef

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Thank you very much for the further and detailed execution, very feasible and informative.

Regards,

Detlef

Hi Alan,
I fully agree with Detlef (except the execution )!
Regards

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Jean

Hi Alan,
I fully agree with Detlef (except the execution )!
Regards

Hi Jean,

execution means the same as facture in france to my knowledge but I can be wrong since english isn't my mother language. I don't think that Alan has executed someone but has very good executed why sometimes good Bali blades found in this style of sarung!

Regards,

Detlef