Bugis Keris

[David]

Originally Posted by jagabuwana

That's a lovely piece!

I hope I'm not derailing where you intended your post to go David, but a couple of questions question to all:

- what is the name of the binding or thread wrap that covers the bottom half of the wrongko?
- was there a functional purpose for these or is it purely aesthetic?

You could not possibly derail the thread with such questions. In fact they were ones i was already considering that i hadn't asked.

[mariusgmioc]

What a beauty! 😍😍😍

[Jean]

Well, the kris origin is most probably Terengganu as indicated by Gustav, as the style of the scabbard, hilt, and pendokok are not typically Indonesian indeed.
Regarding the ivory species, the open crack on the top seems to be part of the intersticial line found on hippo ivory. However I never noticed such parallel lines either on hippo ivory or spermwhale ivory.
Regards

[Interested Party]

Originally Posted by Jean

Well, the kris origin is most probably Terengganu as indicated by Gustav, as the style of the scabbard, hilt, and pendokok are not typically Indonesian indeed.
Regarding the ivory species, the open crack on the top seems to be part of the intersticial line found on hippo ivory. However I never noticed such parallel lines either on hippo ivory or spermwhale ivory.
Regards

I was specifically asking about the carved lines on the abdominal area. I guessed they were representative of a sarong (at first I thought wooden armor but I believe that it is usually orientated horizontally). Ruling out armor, my curiosity was aimed specifically at was there a cloth pattern these lines were designed to imitate?

Jean, now that you have mentioned the grain pattern of the material, on your second example, are the lines I see on the "face" of the demam figure the ones you are referring to? Is this an example that you referred to as hippo ivory in a hilt book? Or are you talking about the lines on the top of the head of the OP? Those are an end grain pattern, no?

[David]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

Jean, now that you have mentioned the grain pattern of the material, on your second example, are the lines I see on the "face" of the demam figure the ones you are referring to? Is this an example that you referred to as hippo ivory in a hilt book? Or are you talking about the lines on the top of the head of the OP? Those are an end grain pattern, no?

Jean is referring to the line with the black dots that runs down the center front of the hilt over the center of the arm. This is often considered an indication of hippo origin. Here is another hilt with a similar dotted line.

[David]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

I was specifically asking about the carved lines on the abdominal area. I guessed they were representative of a sarong (at first I thought wooden armor but I believe that it is usually orientated horizontally). Ruling out armor, my curiosity was aimed specifically at was there a cloth pattern these lines were designed to imitate?

I have always assumed this was simply a design feature meant to create a sense of depth by allowing the eye to recede. Here is another example on another Peninsula hilt. If this is representational of clothing or armour or symbolic of anything in particular i am not aware.

[Jean]

Thank you David and I agree with what you said.

[Rafngard]

I'm sure there are others who can speak more authoritatively on this but I think that the pendokok on David's keris is of the gelugor type, mainly used in Terengganu region. These are named after the gelugor fruit.

Thanks,
Leif