Solo keris for comment.

[David]

Thanks for the clarifications Alan. Yes, my first impression of the second photo was that it reminded me of the Bugis form, but i didn't want to comment on an image that i found hard to decipher like that.
Do we have any photographic evidence of early Jawa/Bali/Madura sheaths that might exist in European collections that were gathered in late Mojophahit times? Off the top of my head the oldest sheath i can recall seeing from this area (and i am not sure that it's exact origins have ever been determined, is it Bali or Jawa?) is the "Sendai keris" which we can at least date to somewhere around 1600 or perhaps a bit earlier. That sheath has some similarities to what we consider walikat while also displaying flourishes of the more formal ladrangan form on the front side.
Unfortunately most sheaths of such antiquity have not survived over time.

[A. G. Maisey]

Niccolo de Conti probably reached parts of S.E. Asia in the early 1400's

In the late 1500's an Englishman named Fitch reached Malacca.

The Portuguese reached Malacca in 1511, and a year later reached Jawa and some of the other islands that now make up Indonesia.

It was not until the 1600's that there was any serious European contact with S.E Asia, and particularly with Jawa.

European contact with Jawa was initially with the trading enclaves along the North Coast, all of which were strongly influenced by Islamic style long before the European contact.

During the Majapahit era the merchants in these Islamic enclaves adopted much of the style of Majapahit, however, they adopted the style in an absence of understanding content, so when the keris became a profane object it acquired a nature that was shaped by a different ethic to that which applied within the Majapahit court.

The earliest keris held in European collections all date from this time, and most do not have any scabbard or part of a scabbard. No keris scabbards exist which date from the time of Majapahit, our only guide is the representations of scabbards found in monumental carvings.

However, bearing in mind the massive migration of people from East Jawa to Bali, both before and after the final collapse of Majapahit, together with the active rejection by Balinese rulers of contact with Jawa, following the dominance of Islam in Jawa, I believe it is reasonable to look at Balinese styles of keris scabbard and use those as a guide to the probable form of pre-Islamic Javanese keris scabbards.

I do not believe that there is any evidence that the flamboyant styles of the Central Javanese scabbard originated during the Second Mataram Era, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that these styles did develop (as distinct from originate) during this period.

From the time of Sutawijaya (Panembahan Senopati) the House of Mataram was very actively engaged in trying to validate their claim to kingship, and much of the style of Modern Jawa was shaped by these actions, for instance, the development of the Modern Javanese language and the extreme nature of Javanese societal hierarchy can probably be attributed to the early rulers of the House of Mataram trying to elevate themselves above the rest of society.

It is probably reasonable to assume that dress styles were also developed that tended to elevate the people at the top of the societal pyramid, and the keris is an item of dress.

[David]

Thanks Alan. I knew that serious contact from Europe didn't take place until around then, but wasn't sure if there was a possibility that a wrongko from the late Mojopahit might have ended up in European hands. Since we don't have any actual sheaths to judge from it seems that the artistic depiction in old temples is the best we have to go on.
Can you think of any sheaths in collections anywhere that might pre-date the Sendai keris?

[A. G. Maisey]

From memory, no, but I do have notes and records from my examination of the Bargello, Copenhagen and Dresden collections and I could do some comparisons, however, this would take time. Its easy & quick to write from memory, checking things takes a lot longer.

[Gustav]

The matters with early sheaths are not so simple, and there is more important material available.

The Portuguese contacts in Java from 1512 on were, of course, with Hindu believers.

There is an inventory of Guarda Roupa (wardrobe, an analogue to Kunstkammer) of the King Manuel I of Portugal from 1522. A Keris is mentioned, with rock crystal hilt and scabbard adorned with rubies, and two other Keris, whose hilts were carved in the form of women (Heritage of Rauluchantim, catalogue of an exhibition held in Museu de Sao Roque in Lisboa, 1996). Another mentioning of this inventory in Exotica, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, 2000, says, these two other Keris have wooden scabbards, and the hilts are made from horn, adorned with rubies.

As I have written before, there is a possibility, that one of these Kerisses is the so called Deutschordens-Kris in Vienna.


Two quite famous Englishman visited Bali and Southern Java before 1600 - Francis Drake in 1580 and Thomas Cavendish in 1588. The first Dutch expedition reached Bali in 1597.

Contacts of both Drake and Cavendish on Java and Bali were with "gentiles", (the word used by English to distinguish Hindus from Muslims).

Drake brought a number of locally made weapons, including Keris, to England. There is a possibility, they still are in existence.


The oldest sheath with provenance is the other one from Vienna, first mentioned in 1607.

The hilt figure of this ensemble has a Keris at the waist, a clearly pronounced Ladrangan, as flamboyant as one from PBX era. It is of course no proof a Ladrangan like that existed in real life, as it is true for many elements in Wayang depictions. Yet the idea of Ladrangan was present.

(Try to carve a Ladrangan in wood and then in Andesite. You will experience the artistic limits of the material.)

Stylistically the carving of the figure shows a strong Majapahit influence or even could be Majapahit.

A good comparison to the Gambar of this sheath is Keris, depicted at the back of a Bhima-Kertolo statue from Museum Nasional, 15th cent. The point of Gandar of the sheath shows an embellishment at the same place where Keris Nr. EDb 24 from Kopenhagen (Jensen's book, page 69) has a floral carving. This Keris, blade and sheath, could perhaps be one of the oldest preserved.

As a conclusion - we absolutely can't rule out a possibility to still have a Majapahit sheath around somewhere.

[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav, in respect of early European contact with Jawa, it is important to understand the difference between the Island of Jawa and the Land of Jawa. Early Portuguese contact with people living on the Island of Jawa was in fact with Banten, a part of Sunda, not a part of the Land of Jawa.

The Portuguese assisted Banten in a military action (1522), against the Sultan of Demak, which is on the North Coast of Central Jawa, and subsequently set up a trading post at Panarukan in East Jawa, their first contact with Javanese, rather than Sundanese people was with the Muslim traders along the North Coast of Jawa, first in the military action against Demak, and then in trade with the established Muslim traders.

Since the Kingdom of Majapahit is central to this discussion we need to focus on the Land of Jawa, not the Island of Jawa.

In respect of Francis Drake, I have a vague memory that a Sumatran ruler gave Drake as keris as a gift to his queen. It may be in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Drake made it to Jawa about 1580, by which time Islam was well and truly on the way to domination of Jawa, and was certainly entrenched along the coastal ports of North Jawa by this time. (If searching for this keris, spellings of creese and kris might perhaps be useful)

There are quite a number of Javanese keris that date from the late 16th century forward in European collections, but from memory I cannot recall any of these earliest keris being accompanied by scabbards.

I do agree that the absence of something does not prove its non-existence, but I really do not hold a great deal of hope that a keris scabbard that we can positively identify as having a link to the Karaton of Majapahit, prior to 1525 is ever likely to appear. Probably all we will ever have are depictions in carvings.

That hilt carving is great evidence, but regrettably too late a date for any Majapahit association. The scabbard shown on the statue is really great, and is an echo of the one in the Panataran carvings, which inclines me to the opinion that perhaps what we now think of as Bugis style scabbards were once popular in East Jawa.

Actually, we probably would need a keris scabbard from the earlier years of Majapahit, as by the time that Demak set out to eliminate Majapahit as a commercial competitor --- yes, it was all about commerce and power, not religion --- the Majapahit court had a pretty considerable content of nobles and officials who followed the Islamic faith. It was a very tolerant court.

[Gustav]

Alan, there was almost none trade between Portuguese and Muslims from North Coast of Java. Portuguese as Catholics didn't officially trade with Muslims, unlike the Danish and Dutch. The official Portuguese trade contact was with Hindu Kingdom of Sunda.

In respect of Francis Drake, he never visited Sumatra. You probably mixed him up with Richard Swann, who was in Sumatra 60 years later and brought back to England a Keris, gift from Sultan of Indragiri.

Francis Drake visited Bali and a port in Eastern Java, not North Coast, and his contacts were explicitly with Hindu people, as were those of Thomas Cavendish.

There are three old Keris in Ashmolean Tradescant collection, yet their provenance is not clear before 1656 or perhaps 1637.

The Sheath at the back of the Bhima/Kertolo statue is almost identical to the one provenanced from 1607 in Vienna (very important - the carvings on Gambar, including Wideng Kasatriyan), and the hilt figure with Ladrangan is the hilt of this Keris.

There are quite a big number of Keris sheaths, which go back to the 17th cent., and at least three (including the one from Sendai), which perhaps could go back to the 16th cent. All of them are Gandar Iras Sunggingans. Also perhaps some more simple sheaths, like the one from Kopenhagen I mentioned, could be that old or even older.