Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 17th July 2007, 04:56 AM

Pak Ganja, I do not know of any book reference on cis.

I have the name from various people that I know, and have known , in Solo.

My wife, who comes from East Jawa , calls some of these things "pancing buaya", which name she got from her father who used to make them, and use them for exactly that.Other of what people in Solo would call "cis", she has no name for, and does not recognise; these are the "cis" that resemble an angkus.

The item that you have posted a pic of, I personally would hesitate to call a cis, but probably some people in Solo would give it that name.

In fact, in Javanese, the word "cis" does have the meaning of "angkus".

I'm sure you have noted that when I posted the image of what I know as a "cis", I wrote:-

"Here is an image of what I know as a cis."

I did not write:-

"Here is an image of a cis."

I feel that what has happened with this group of items that we know as "cis" in Solo, is this:- some of them are correctly named as "cis", and these are the ones that look, and probably functioned as, an angkus; the others which bear a resemblance to a correctly named cis, are in fact not cis at all, but various types of harpoon used to harpoon crocodiles, or sharks and other large fish.

I have a few of these cis of both types. I'm not exactly sure where they are at the moment, but if I can locate them I will post some more pictures.

17th July 2007, 04:56 AM	#39
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,988	Pak Ganja, I do not know of any book reference on cis. I have the name from various people that I know, and have known , in Solo. My wife, who comes from East Jawa , calls some of these things "pancing buaya", which name she got from her father who used to make them, and use them for exactly that.Other of what people in Solo would call "cis", she has no name for, and does not recognise; these are the "cis" that resemble an angkus. The item that you have posted a pic of, I personally would hesitate to call a cis, but probably some people in Solo would give it that name. In fact, in Javanese, the word "cis" does have the meaning of "angkus". I'm sure you have noted that when I posted the image of what I know as a "cis", I wrote:- "Here is an image of what I know as a cis." I did not write:- "Here is an image of a cis." I feel that what has happened with this group of items that we know as "cis" in Solo, is this:- some of them are correctly named as "cis", and these are the ones that look, and probably functioned as, an angkus; the others which bear a resemblance to a correctly named cis, are in fact not cis at all, but various types of harpoon used to harpoon crocodiles, or sharks and other large fish. I have a few of these cis of both types. I'm not exactly sure where they are at the moment, but if I can locate them I will post some more pictures.