Sumatra Keris tourist or not?

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

However, simply because there seems to have been production directed at the collector market does not make this style of dress any less desirable, in fact, old examples of this dress style are now relatively scarce and for the better ones, quite expensive, especially those which are carved as lions.

Yes, i have been interested in finding a nicely carved old version of this lion dress for some time.
I agree with you completely Alan. This notion of the "tourist" keris is really a misnomer. Those nasty cut out blades with the paint on pamor from Bali would qualify, yes, and those souvenir Malay letter opener keris with the silver plated blades certainly do, but beyond that...

[BluErf]

I thought the blade is a very decent blade! Has a settled old look to it, and definitely made by a pandai who knew what he was doing.

[Henk]

These keris where as mentioned Madura style keris and probably made in madura for the Dutch soldiers to bring back home. Especially Madura was very loyal to the Dutch. This loyalty is represented in some styles of the maduran ukiran full of Dutch symbolism

I already mentioned in another thread that these kind of keris are worth to find a place in a keris collection. A real keris blade in a mostly good carved but also a dress of lower quality of used wood representing a historical period. Until now i've seen two styles of this soldiers keris if i may call it so. Both styles are shown in this thread.

Here in Holland you couldn't enter an auction house or fleemarket without stumbling over some of these keris. Today they start to become more rare to find.

[David]

Well, as Alan has pointed out this dress form was a legitimate one that was favored my Europeans and so it became associated with them due to their desire to have these elaborate carvings for keris they returned home with. But we would probably be a bit off base to assume that they were always made specifically for Dutch soldiers. And for the most part i think the blades in them were not made for them either. Just old blades they managed to collect and have re-dressed in this form. Because of this i think we see a great deal of variation in the quality of blades we find in this dress, but usually they are not top-notch blades. We also see a wide range in the quality of the dress itself.
Is it not possible that we might find one of these in Madura where it was owned by a Maduran and never meant to be a soldier's souvenir?

[Henk]

David,

Very good question.

The blades where older blades indeed and mostly not top-notch blades. In my opinion and that's why you see them so much here in Holland is that these dresses were purely made for bringback gifts for mainly the Dutch soldiers and other Dutch employees in those days.

In my opinion the Maduran owned keris in their proper maduran dress and not in dress of lower quality wood, that was used for these bringback kerisses.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Henk

David,

Very good question.

The blades where older blades indeed and mostly not top-notch blades. In my opinion and that's why you see them so much here in Holland is that these dresses were purely made for bringback gifts for mainly the Dutch soldiers and other Dutch employees in those days.

In my opinion the Maduran owned keris in their proper maduran dress and not in dress of lower quality wood, that was used for these bringback kerisses.

My answer would be :

look at the extravagant carving of the Donoriko hilts !

If this sheer exuberance in the carver's art can be practiced in this medium then why not in the Wrongkos and Gandars of Madura keris ?

So I would disagree that these were purely "Visitor"
oriented works .

Visitor influenced, perhaps; or was it assimilation into the culture ?

[Henk]

Rick,

There are carved maduran wrongko's en gandars and if i remembered well in a thread about maduran scabbards a wrongko with lying lion is shown.

In that case i completely agree with you. But the keris type we are discussing here are dressed in lesser quality wood which makes quicker carving possible. This quality wouldnt be the choice of a maduran for his kerisblade.

[David]

Originally Posted by Henk

David,

Very good question.

The blades where older blades indeed and mostly not top-notch blades. In my opinion and that's why you see them so much here in Holland is that these dresses were purely made for bringback gifts for mainly the Dutch soldiers and other Dutch employees in those days.

In my opinion the Maduran owned keris in their proper maduran dress and not in dress of lower quality wood, that was used for these bringback kerisses.

Henk, from your last response i fear that you are not understanding my meaning or intention in showing these other higher end dress. I certainly didn't mean to offend, but you will excuse me if i insist that this discussion has nothing to due in particular with being Dutch. I originally wondered whether this form of dress might have also been a traditional dress form before it caught on for returning soldiers. I thought that Alan suggested as much in post first post on this thread. When i asked this you responded "good question", but you response seemed to indict that you believed this is form made purely for Dutch soldiers. If i misunderstood your meaning i do apologize. We are not having a discussion solely about the quality of the wood used in these sheaths, but also the form itself. So i have shown other dress of this type which you now state you wish were the kind soldiers brought back and that your Dutch friends are surprised to see this dress in this quality. Well maybe that means some of these higher quality versions actually were made for Madurans, not soldiers. That is may point. Am i missing something here?
My statement about looking in the wrong boxes at flea markets was punctuated with a wink and a smile. It was meant in jest. I am sorry that you missed the joke.