Straight Palemabng Keris
 

The recent Palembang keris threads reminded me to ask; (Mods, can you please fix the title and delete this in brackets)

Can those with NON luk types look to their collections and note here what the longest examples of Palembang Keris with "straight" blades are?

Just the blade length from gonjo to type, stright types only. A width at the widest point may be of interest too if it isn't too much trouble.

With thanks

Gavin

Hi, mine is 43cm long and 9cm wide, which I guess is pretty long for a Palembang keris.

Thank you Peter. That is a decent length for the type.
The 9cms is across the gonjo, what is the broadest point in the blade?
If a single photo of the blade is available, I'd like to view it please.

Hello Peter,

A blade length of 43cm is definitely in the (very) upper range for Palembang and neighbouring regions.

Regards,
Kai

This is my Palembang blade.

What's the end limit for them Kai?

Two emails sent some time ago too?

Gavin

Hi Gavin. This one is 16 inches (40.6 cm).

Interesting cross section of the type with just two images.

One with the pronounced medial ridge, the other more oval section of the Sumatran Anak or Panjang form.

Does anyone know the Sumatran terms for these variations, if there is one at all?

Hello Gavin,

The last two pics from David show a keris apparently locally crafted in typical Jawa style (including the tikel alis). Actually, both keris shown so far are.

Keris Palembang (and Lampung) tended to follow closely standard Jawa or Sunda patterns.

Sumatran Bangkinang blades typically exhibit a rudimentary tikel alis; their cross section tends to have thicker proportions in the lower half of the blade.

Regards,
Kai

Hello Gavin,

I don't have representative statistics and certainly not enough data on the extremes - let's see what record size we might find here.

My largest Palembang/Lampung blade is just short of Peter's example. I have another keris from Sumatra: Without scabbard; blade appears consistent with Palembang but needs more scrutiny; length about 43.6 cm (over 17").

Regards,
Kai

Thanks Kai,

I'll throw a known 45.5 long blade in to the mix.
Straight, high medial ridge and slightly swollen though the belly.