A Bugis-Makasar keris

[adamb]

Hi All,

I'm a new member of this (fascinating) forum; thank you for having me.

Several weeks ago I picked up this keris (sapukala) in Makassar, but it came with no biographical information and I've very limited knowledge of keris at this stage, so I'm keen for the forum members' insights on it.

To my inexperienced eye the keris blade looks rather "old", but some of my Bugis-Makasar friends differ in their views on its origin; some are adamant that it is of Javanese make, although a particularly knowledgeable person tells me it is indeed a Bugis production. The blade is quite thin in section, whereas my (poor) understanding is that Bugis keris blades tend to be rather thick.

The dress (including hulu) does seem to be Bugis.

Any insight/opinions much appreciated. Thank you!

[A. G. Maisey]

There is really no room for doubt about this keris blade, not so much for what it is, but rather for what it is not.

Stylistically it is definitely not Bugis.

No experienced student of the keris would accept that this blade is stylistically Bugis.

The image is of a page in my notebook, it sets out the characteristics of a Bugis style blade & at #10 there is a rough sketch of the blade cross-section.

This blade might have been made in Jawa, it is Javanese in style, but Jawa style was often copied & produced in other places --- I myself have produced Jawa style keris in a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

[adamb]

Thank you Alan, this is very insightful.

For what it is worth, this blade does seem rather similar in form - at least to my eye - to a Bugis keris illustrated in Matthes' 1874 Ethnographic Atlas of the Bugis, which I have attached to this post.

However, my Bugis-Makasar friends did tell me that owing to a very longstanding process of cultural syncretisation it is quite difficult in some cases to distinguish between Javanese and Bugis blades on stylistic grounds alone.

In any case, I understand that generally speaking it's not possible to say too much about the antiquity of this blade from photos on a computer screen, but do you think it is, indeed, "old" (i.e., pre-WWII)?

Kind regards
Adam

[A. G. Maisey]

To classify a keris blade we do not use style alone, & I agree that we cannot use just style to provide the probability of geographic point of origin of a keris blade. This is the reason I qualified my comments with a reference to style.

Further, in classification of a keris blade as "Bugis", that classification is cultural, rather than geographic. The reason for this is the diaspora of the Bugis people:- Bugis style blades have been produced in many places other than South Sulawesi.


In Jawa we tend to work on blade classification more or less through a progression of eliminations:- it is not this, it is not that, it is certainly not such & such --- so what else do we have left?

Javanese style blades have been copied in other places than Jawa, I'm talking Land of Jawa, not Island of Jawa, & these can be difficult to differentiate from Made in The Land of Jawa, however, there is usually some indicator or other that will reveal that a blade has probably not been made in Jawa, & often some other indicator that will cause an experienced & knowledgeable person to nominate a possible locality of origin.

It is pretty much a matter of experience & how & where one learnt the craft. Really, this job of classification in accordance with the Javanese practice of tangguh is something that only a keris specialist (ahli keris) is qualified to carry out with some possibility of overwhelming agreement from others, the ordinary keris interested person will have inconsistent opinions & see things in a different way depending upon his emotions --- or maybe which way the wind is blowing.

The illustration you have shown is of no use at all in providing sufficient grounds to form an opinion on what that illustration shows. In fact, even the very best photograph, taken by an expert photographer, can only provide very limited information that might be useful in determination of the classification of a keris blade. One cannot feel the weight, balance nor texture of a blade from a photo, & that's just for a start.

There is a book:- "Senjata Pusaka Bugis", every keris blade shown in that book is easily identifiable as fitting a Bugis classification.

The blade you have shown is most definitely not Bugis in style. It might be Javanese in style, but whether or not it was made in Jawa is open to question & something that I cannot comment upon using only a photograph.

[adamb]

Thank you Alan, understood (I think). This is clearly a complex subject.

How about the possible age of this keris of mine? Any insight at all?

many thanks
Adam

[A. G. Maisey]

Yep.

Complex.

Keris are not something we can come to terms with in a short period of time, & this is something that frustrates many people and causes them to look for more easily understand areas of interest to fill their time.

There are indicators that might cause some people to classify this blade as Tuban-Pajajaran, but we do not really expect to find a pamor like udan mas in a keris of this classification.

I'm inclined to think it has some age, I think pre-WWII would be a safe bet & probably from West Jawa, made in an earlier style.

As always my comments are not set in stone, I'd need the blade in my hand before I'd be prepared to form an opinion, if that were even possible.

[adamb]

Thank you indeed Alan, this is wonderful and very helpful.

With kind regards
Adam