Asian Civilisations Museum

F. de Luzon · 27th May 2017, 06:57 AM

Thanks for sharing, Rasdan. Very much appreciated!

Kind regards,

Fernando

rasdan · 27th May 2017, 01:33 PM

My pleasure Fernando..

David · 27th May 2017, 04:53 PM

Thanks for the link Rasdan. New info or not, access to large collections like this is always a valuable thing. I do wish they had done a better job of photographing their collection though. Hard to see much detail in most of these images.

rasdan · 27th May 2017, 06:15 PM

You're welcome David. Yes, the picture is a bit inadequate for a somewhat satisfying assessment; I guess they needed to quickly take the pictures due to the high number of collection that they have.

David · 27th May 2017, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rasdan

You're welcome David. Yes, the picture is a bit inadequate for a somewhat satisfying assessment; I guess they needed to quickly take the pictures due to the high number of collection that they have.

Yes, they seem to have a nice sized collection. I wonder how many of them ever get displayed. Hopefully they keep at least a small selection of keris on constant display.
It is a bit disheartening that after keris all other weapons on the site are identified as either machete, dagger, knife or sword. I would think they would have better access to proper names such as mandau, barong and the like.

Laowang · 28th May 2017, 03:57 AM

I've been to the Asian Civilizations Museum a few times over the years, when back in Singapore with my wife to visit her family. There's a gallery devoted to the arts of Indonesia and Malaysia, and there's always a good representation of keris on display. I believe they rotate the keris in and out of the gallery, as each time I've been there are different keris.

Although some of the other weaponry, such as the mandaus, are generically categorized as "machetes", I believe this is just based on some form of convention, not lack of knowledge on their part. In one particular example from the website, the mandau had the name "machete" but the catalog entry included a lengthy description of its purpose and cultural significance, starting with the proper name mandau. For example, some museums call claymores, katanas, and jians all three "swords", for ease of recognition by visitors.

Regarding quality of the images on the website, my guess is this is strictly a function of data usage. The photographs on the website are disappointingly low resolution (for detailed examination), but they appear to be properly lit, and carefully staged. They have 124,404 items in the digital collection, so you can see why image size could quickly become a problem of digital storage size.

Thanks for pointing out the digital collection, Rasdan, it's nice to know it's there. If you have the chance, I highly recommend visiting the Asian Civilizations Museum.

rasdan · 28th May 2017, 12:24 PM

You're most welcome Laowang. I am planning to go there soon!

David, I think with Laowang explanation on the way the collections. Also, I guess the machete are used to generalised the wide range of chopping weapons type in Borneo. The word machate probably simplify their inventory categories. But, yes, for web publishing it's better to have a slightly detailed name.

27th May 2017, 06:57 AM	#1
F. de Luzon Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 184	Thanks for sharing, Rasdan. Very much appreciated! Kind regards, Fernando

27th May 2017, 01:33 PM	#2
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 369	My pleasure Fernando..

27th May 2017, 04:53 PM	#3
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,228	Thanks for the link Rasdan. New info or not, access to large collections like this is always a valuable thing. I do wish they had done a better job of photographing their collection though. Hard to see much detail in most of these images.

27th May 2017, 06:15 PM	#4
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 369	You're welcome David. Yes, the picture is a bit inadequate for a somewhat satisfying assessment; I guess they needed to quickly take the pictures due to the high number of collection that they have.

28th May 2017, 03:57 AM	#6
Laowang Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: 40˚00' N, 83˚00' W Posts: 52	I've been to the Asian Civilizations Museum a few times over the years, when back in Singapore with my wife to visit her family. There's a gallery devoted to the arts of Indonesia and Malaysia, and there's always a good representation of keris on display. I believe they rotate the keris in and out of the gallery, as each time I've been there are different keris. Although some of the other weaponry, such as the mandaus, are generically categorized as "machetes", I believe this is just based on some form of convention, not lack of knowledge on their part. In one particular example from the website, the mandau had the name "machete" but the catalog entry included a lengthy description of its purpose and cultural significance, starting with the proper name mandau. For example, some museums call claymores, katanas, and jians all three "swords", for ease of recognition by visitors. Regarding quality of the images on the website, my guess is this is strictly a function of data usage. The photographs on the website are disappointingly low resolution (for detailed examination), but they appear to be properly lit, and carefully staged. They have 124,404 items in the digital collection, so you can see why image size could quickly become a problem of digital storage size. Thanks for pointing out the digital collection, Rasdan, it's nice to know it's there. If you have the chance, I highly recommend visiting the Asian Civilizations Museum.

28th May 2017, 12:24 PM	#7
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 369	You're most welcome Laowang. I am planning to go there soon! David, I think with Laowang explanation on the way the collections. Also, I guess the machete are used to generalised the wide range of chopping weapons type in Borneo. The word machate probably simplify their inventory categories. But, yes, for web publishing it's better to have a slightly detailed name.