My Bugis keris

[Johan van Zyl]

Keris friends, I have the greatest pleasure in informing you that I have become the proud (and relieved) owner of my second KERIS! I say relieved, because I never thought I would even GET another one, taking into account where I live and what my surroundings are, i.e. non keris environment, non collector environment etc. In my town I know three collectors, and they just looked at me blankly and vigorously shook their heads when I broached the topic of the keris. The one collected war medals, the other guns and the third had a truly motley accumulation of interesting stuff.

The purpose of this first post is to put out a number of pics of my keris for you to look at. I have taken them in very bright light and have enlarged them as much as I dared for viewing clarity. If they are still lacking, I apologise. One of the pics show the keris full-length, plus the only piece of the sheath I received, the rest is AWOL. The other pics are some closeups.

Be assured that I have done a LOT of reading up since my previous thread "My Javanese Keris" was posted. Notwithstanding, I still realise that it is all book-learning and I still have virtually no hands-on experience in seeing & handling a variety of kerisses. In general, I am not ashamed to say that I have been a student all my life, and I say one life is too short to not study all the time.

One more thing: I have come across some strange keris threads in this archive, but even they served somehow to give me food for thought. And yes, I have even come across a thread by Mr Maisey stating his total disgust (my words) at that travesty they call "rap". I want to state just as vigorously that I fully agree with the gentleman! And lastly, he has said in a thread that he would like to be called Alan. In my conservative Afrikaans culture we always wait until requested to drop the "Mr". Now that I have read what he said, I will have the honour of calling him Alan.

[Johan van Zyl]

My own opinion of this keris is that it is Bugis, from Sulawesi. The dapur is luk 7. The pamor is mlumah. It is a genuine oldie. Now I am ready to stand corrected on some or all of these initial observations! I will appreciate any and all comments. I'll be sure to have more questions afterwards!

[Green]

i am a relative newbie myself but if i can hazard a comment. the keris is over cleaned (always my pet peeve , this) into shiny surface, otherwise it is a very decent piece.

Where is the cross piece (sampir, in malaysian terminology) of the sarong (scabbard) ?

[Henk]

Great Bugis keris. Very nice catch. A pity the wrongko is missing.
Certainly not overcleaned. This is how a neat Bugis keris looks like.

I love it.

[Jean]

Hello Johan,
A good classical Bugis blade with typical pamor, probably from Sulawesi indeed. It was polished for removing the rust but there are some stains left, although not critical. As to further clean & stain it or not, I am showing one Bugis blade before and after treatment for your evaluation (with a different style of pamor and not the best example though).
Regards

[Sajen]

Hello Johan,

yes like said by the other before, a decent Bugis blade and not overcleaned ( ) like said by Green. When this blade get further cleaned by fruit acid and get traditional etched it will look very nice like Jean has shown you. But you can let it also like this since it will be maybe a problem for you to get the blade etched. Congrats for your second keris!

Regards,
Detlef

[Johan van Zyl]

Jean, Green, Henk & Sajen, thank you. Yes, the wrongko is missing, as well as the buntut. I have researched what a typical Bugis keris sheath is supposed to look like, and I will have to carefully make the missing parts myself.

I am hoping my guess on the pamor being mlumah is correct. Can anyone please expand on the pamor of this blade and give further details as to pamor form and meaning?

I would think this keris falls age-wise between 1800 and 1900, with a median at about 1850. But I know this is only a guess. Do you think this guess falls within the realm of possibility?

Greetings
Johan

[Gustav]

Perhaps not over cleaned, yet the blade tip has been re-sharpened an is a little bit awkward now.

Sirah Cecak has received a "beump" (quotation Inspector Clouzot)

I would say, more likely Riau then Sulawesi. That Pendokok we encounter also in M. Peninsula.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

I would think this keris falls age-wise between 1800 and 1900, with a median at about 1850. But I know this is only a guess. Do you think this guess falls within the realm of possibility?

Would agree! Personally I would look for the missing sampir by the biggest online auction site!

Regards,
Detlef

[kai]

Hello Johan,

Welcome! That's certainly a better start to keris collecting than many out there!

BTW, what is the blade size for this keris?

19th c. seems like a good guess for this piece; it is certainly a good idea to try to obtain as much info as possible when acquiring such a piece from local sources (still remember to buy the keris rather than the story - however, if you don't ask, chances are that possibly valuable info may get lost).


I'm pretty much with Gustav here:

Perhaps not over cleaned, yet the blade tip has been re-sharpened an is a little bit awkward now.

Sirah Cecak has received a "beump" (quotation Inspector Clouzot)

I would say, more likely Riau then Sulawesi. That Pendokok we encounter also in M. Peninsula.

The blade does look like a Riau or Malacca Straits piece and could well be from the Indonesian or the Malay coast (with likelihood being higher for eastern Sumatran regions IMHO).

This is not a blade that really asks for warangan staining like Jean's example. At least it's pretty obvious that the general approach of the originating culture was to gently repolish these blades when cleaning (and possibly staining) them. Thus, a fairly smooth blade with topographic etching is not necessarily overcleaned. However, as Gustav already pointed out, Nik does have a point in this case and I guess that a former owner did work over the blade with sandpaper and did over"polish" the exposed ridges, especially at the tip. Removing metal is something that is also commonly done in the originating culture(s) when trying to revamp an aged/worn blade; however, it needs to be done with sufficient expertise as not to look off...

Regards,
Kai

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Johan, Alan will do just fine.

I'm not going to comment much on this keris.

My focus for many years has been the attempt to gain an understanding of the keris in Javanese/Balinese societies, and an understanding of the keris in these societies tends to create an opinion that places the keris in other keris bearing societies into a very different realm.

Any keris is certainly a very collectable object, and it is probable that most people who take part in this Forum are collectors, so the opinions already received, and those that may follow can be accepted as valid opinions of practicing collectors.

I will reserve my comments on this occasion.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

Can anyone please expand on the pamor of this blade and give further details as to pamor form and meaning?

Johan

Hello Johan,
According to the Bugis Sulawesi terminology, your kris has 3 ure (pamor) patterns:
. The triangular pattern at the base is called Timpalaja (roof ridge).
. The main pattern along the blade is called Tebba Jampu.
. The frame on the edges is called Teppobaja (Wengkon in Java).
Of course these patterns are not very clear on you blade because of its polished condition, see how it would approximatively look after cleaning & warangan treatment.
And I agree that this blade could be originating from Sumatra Riau.
Regards

[Johan van Zyl]

Gustav, Kai & Alan have come in : I thank you also. All your judgements are of great importance to me, as I have many aspects of the keris to learn. Which saddens me that Alan has opted to withhold comment, but of course I need to respect that also, and I do.

Kai, the blade length is 12.3 inches, that's 31.2 cm.

I now have quite a few facts on the table pertaining to this keris, thanks to you all, and this prompts questions in my mind:

1 How is it that this particular blade can have the necessary visible features that enable experienced students of the keris to be able to eliminate Sulawesi as point of origin? I admire that expertise, and would like to be further enlightened on this point, if you please.

2 According to the antique dealer from whom I got this keris, the mendak is gold. He has done a test on it's mark with concentrated nitric acid and he assured me of this fact. He is a cousin, and we are on very good, amicable terms. Does this fact (if true) strike you as perhaps improbable? IOW, does the gold fit in with the class of this keris?

3 Having read what was said about the pamor, I conclude I am correct when I make it to be mlumah, and that the three patterns mentioned all fall under mlumah?

4 Of course the pattern on the ganja is miring (or so I think). If so, would that be adeg?

5 Coming to the 7 luk blade, is there any cultural distinction in terms of meaning between luk 3, 5 and 7? I know that wave counts above 7 are seen as special. Does 3, 5 and 7 each have different significance?

I appreciate your patience with my many questions!
Regards
Johan

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

the blade length is 12.3 inches, that's 31.2 cm.

1 How is it that this particular blade can have the necessary visible features that enable experienced students of the keris to be able to eliminate Sulawesi as point of origin? I admire that expertise, and would like to be further enlightened on this point, if you please.

3 Having read what was said about the pamor, I conclude I am correct when I make it to be mlumah, and that the three patterns mentioned all fall under mlumah?

4 Of course the pattern on the ganja is miring (or so I think). If so, would that be adeg?

Hello Johan,
Considering the short size of the blade (31 cm long), the shape of the gandar (wide and not narrowing towards the tip), the compact shape of the hilt, and the style of pendokok, it is more likely that it originates from Riau than Sulawesi. It would have been useful to see the whole scabbard for giving a more accurate opinion.
Yes, the blade pamor type is mlumah, for the ganja it appears as miring but probably because the cut piece from the iron/pamor bar used for making it is turned 90° as compared to the blade so the pamor lines appear perpendicular to the surface (Alan, please confirm if this is correct).
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Jean, the gonjo has been made in probably the most usual way, by cutting a piece of the pamor material from the forging, before the core was welded in. But we cannot call that pamor in the gonjo miring, or adeg, its still mlumah pamor, its just that we are looking at it side on, it was not manipulated in the forge.

[Johan van Zyl]

Thanks Jean, for your reply, and Alan's helpful comment. Let me get in here with my immediate reply while I await more comment on my other questions outstanding:

This Riau thing that cropped up unexpectedly, caused me some confusion as I started reading up about it. As I understand it (imperfectly it seems), the Bugis is a people, not a place. Seems the Bugis inhabited the southern part of Sulawesi originally and produced the Bugis kerisses of Sulawesi. Then sections of them migrated to other parts of Indonesia but continued to craft kerisses, like for example on the islands of Riau. These are Bugis kerisses, but not of Sulawesi. Now there are confusing statements from various internet sites that read: "...southern Sumatra regions of Bugis..." as if Bugis is a geographical region. Now I am wondering, perhaps it IS a region?
Johan

[David]

Definitely a people Johan, not a region. I believe that when you encounter something like "...southern Sumatra regions of Bugis..." they are really simply referring to Bugis communities in southern Sumatra. The Bugis were a seafaring people and they got around and re-settled in many areas of Indonesia and Malaysia.

[Johan van Zyl]

Thanks, David, that puts me at ease. While I await some further kind inputs to the remaining questions I asked in the post above, let me ramble on. In my specific social community I am unfortunately isolated with regard to my interests. The result is that my friends (bless their arthritic joints) in my circle constantly have to submit to my stories and look at pictures of kerisses. At least they seem to share my enthusiasm, and I have not had the feeling they are merely humouring me. My 81-year-old sister, who lives with my wife and I, regularly hobbles into my museum-like man-cave and demands updates on the newest information on the Bugis keris as it accumulates! That's cool.
Cheers
Johan

[Rick]

Welcome to our little asylum Johan.
You are not alone; all my friends have a hard time understanding my passion also; and I think that outside of the keris bearing societies many of our contemporaries scratch their heads and wonder about us.
Arms collecting seems to be looked at as rather un-PC these days.

Do you have any import restrictions on edged weapons in SA?

[David]

You know, we have talked about the difference in how keris are maintained in various South East Asian cultures, but frankly, i am still not exactly clear on what areas do what. AFAIK, Jawa, Bali, Madura and at least some parts of Sumatra consider staining a blade with warangan a traditional part of the process. Balinese blades tend to have their surfaces polished first. My understanding of the Malay Peninsula is that neither warangan nor polishing is the accepted process. But is there any consistency in the Bugis culture from island to island? Here is a Sulawesi blade that has a full warangan treatment. It was purchased from a dealer in Singapore and AFAIK it has never been outside SEA before it came into my hands, so this is not the work of a Western collector (though it may have been done for Western tastes?). But i have seen many other Bugis blades that don't seem to have ever received such treatment. I would love to form a list of how all these different SEA cultures treat their blades traditionally.

[Johan van Zyl]

Rick, thanks for your "sympathy". On the matter of the restrictions I cannot tell you anything as I have never needed to research it. I did get kukris on separate occasions from American sources some years ago, with no problems. I would reckon if I needed to order something vauable nowadays, I would demand that some sort of registration method with tracking number be used for security reasons.

David, thanks for your comments. It is clear you have given this matter a lot of thought, and it seems a worthwhile topic for you to investigate further. The blade you posted seems to have nickel as part of the pattern mix. Would I be correct when I say that my Bugis keris blade does not contain nickel, and that the slight colour differences visible can be ascribed to different types of iron ("white" and "black") in the billet?

I have in the meantime researched some of the terms used by Gustav. In my understanding sirah cecak is die blunt end of the ganja. The opposite end is buntut urang, if I am correct. Yes, there does seem to be a "beump", but I think the blade could only have gotten that bump while it was out of dress and without hilt. And I think it got the bump a long time ago as the bump looks as aged as the blade itself. Let me add here that the story goes that a man brought this keris as well as my Javanese keris out of SEA to South Africa in the 1950s. Both came into the hands of a collector, from whom my dealer cousin got them and passed them on to me. (I bartered an arm & a leg for them.) The bump could have occurred while still in SEA.

And then I would like to ask Jean what is it about the pendokok that might suggest Riau as place of origin above Sulawesi. It seems I have underestimated the pendokok as a part of the keris that one can get clues from. This is once again most interesting.

Jean mentioned the timpalaja as meaning "roof ridge" (the pattern at the base of the blade). I found an alternative unjung gunung, meaning "mountain peak". I assume these are from two different languages, indicating the very same thing.

Tebba jampu and wengkon I could not fathom. AFAIK wengkon is part of the description of a blade pattern (pamor). Could you come in here please, Jean?

Cheers
Johan

[kai]

Hello David,

Here is a Sulawesi blade that has a full warangan treatment. It was purchased from a dealer in Singapore and AFAIK it has never been outside SEA before it came into my hands, so this is not the work of a Western collector (though it may have been done for Western tastes?).

Thanks for this rare glimpse on a nekkid blade of yours!

Could you add a full view, please? I have to admit that I'm not sure we're looking at a Madurese-made blade here...

BTW, I'd expect most decent keris blades from SE Asia to receive more or less sensible warangan treatment nowadays before being offered (locally or internationally); I don't think we can utilize these for judging traditional approaches of local communities anymore (most seem to be done according to Jawanese "tastes").

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Hello Johan,

Would I be correct when I say that my Bugis keris blade does not contain nickel, and that the slight colour differences visible can be ascribed to different types of iron ("white" and "black") in the billet?

Your blade could be called "out of stain", i. e. it is not really possible to estimate how strong the contrast would be after any kind of etching. The contour-like or topographic effect of your blade suggests that the pamor was forged from quite different iron alloys; most likely these would also result in very visible pamor upon etching again: the contrast might get black & white as in David's example or (more likely with these kind of blades) some shade of dark grey vs. light grey...

Regards,
Kai

[Jean]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello David,


Could you add a full view, please? I have to admit that I'm not sure we're looking at a Madurese-made blade here...

BTW, I'd expect most decent keris blades from SE Asia to receive more or less sensible warangan treatment nowadays before being offered (locally or internationally); I don't think we can utilize these for judging traditional approaches of local communities anymore (most seem to be done according to Jawanese "tastes").

Regards,
Kai

Hello Kai,
Do you mean Madurese or Sulawesi?
Regarding the warangan treatment of Bugis blades, I noticed that almost all the blades shown in the book Senjata Pusaka Bugis and which belong to collectors from Sulawesi have been stained; however this could just be for showing a high contrast in the book. Most of the Bugis blades which I saw in East Kalimantan 20 years ago were not stained but probably because the owners did not have access to warangan.
Regards

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Johan van Zyl

And then I would like to ask Jean what is it about the pendokok that might suggest Riau as place of origin above Sulawesi. It seems I have underestimated the pendokok as a part of the keris that one can get clues from. This is once again most interesting.

Jean mentioned the timpalaja as meaning "roof ridge" (the pattern at the base of the blade). I found an alternative unjung gunung, meaning "mountain peak". I assume these are from two different languages, indicating the very same thing.

Tebba jampu and wengkon I could not fathom. AFAIK wengkon is part of the description of a blade pattern (pamor). Could you come in here please, Jean?

Cheers
Johan

Hello Johan,
Please note that I am not a Bugis kris specialist, just an interested collector!
Regarding the pendokok (apparently called kili-kili in Sulawesi), this carved and flat type is sometimes called Bugis cup (by Frey for instance) and it seems more common in East Sumatra & Malaysia than in Sulawesi but other opinions are welcome. BTW I have my doubts that it could be made from solid gold...
Pamor Timpalaja is located at the base of the blade only, while pamor Ujung Gunung (called Gantara for Bugis krisses) extends along the whole blade.
Pamor Tebba Jampu is similar to pamor Ngulit Semangka or Beras Wutah in Java and it apparently means batang jampu in Indonesian "stem of the rose-apple?".
Pamor Teppobaja means batas baja in Indonesian or "steel limit". Pamor Teppobaja or Wengkon is the pamor line at the edges of the blade.
Regards

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

Thanks for this rare glimpse on a nekkid blade of yours!

Could you add a full view, please? I have to admit that I'm not sure we're looking at a Madurese-made blade here...

Ah, sorry, no, that's all you get this time around i'm afraid.
I am fairly certain that indeed we are not looking at a a Madurese blade. But this thread isn't about this blade and i only posted these portions to venture a general question about the traditions of warangan treatment across the board.

Originally Posted by kai

BTW, I'd expect most decent keris blades from SE Asia to receive more or less sensible warangan treatment nowadays before being offered (locally or internationally); I don't think we can utilize these for judging traditional approaches of local communities anymore (most seem to be done according to Jawanese "tastes").

This is quite possible Kai and you may have noticed that i suggested as much in my post. However, i do maintain a connection with a group of (mostly) Malay collectors and their take seems to be to clean with lime not use warangan. So on the local level i am not convinced the the Javanese methods have taken hold across the entire spectrum of keris bearing cultures.

[Johan van Zyl]

Thank you Jean & Kai, I have taken serious note of your helpful comments and am amplifying my own personal keris dictionary with your help.

One of my remaining questions is about the "gold" mendak/pendokok. I'm not saying it is impossible that my cousin could be mistaken, but I'm now thinking along the lines of "gilded" instead, as a possible explanation for the positive acid test that he reported. Was gilding practised in mid-19th century by the empus? Does the gilded (if that is the case) mendak fit in with the class of this keris, or with the keris-crafting practices of those days?

Secondly, coming to the 7 luk blade, is there any cultural distinction in terms of meaning between luk 3, 5 and 7? I know that wave counts above 7 are seen as special. Does 3, 5 and 7 each have different significance?

Any ideas about the wood type of the hilt and gandar? I myself am tempted to call the hilt kemuning, but I do not have a clue with regards to the gandar.
Cheers
Johan

[David]

Johan, it is indeed quite possible that your pendokok could be gilded or have a gold wash, probably over brass. This is certainly not uncommon for such things.
I would say that it is highly unlikely it is solid gold.
On the meaning of the number of luks, i would say finding a definitive answer there might prove frustrating. Certainly different numbers luks were assigned different meanings or purpose, but from my studies those meanings shift from culture to culture and era to era. So what a 7-luk keris meant to a Bugis from Riau in the 19th century may not be the same as for a Javanese man in the 17th century, and so on.

[Johan van Zyl]

Thanks David. Well, it seems to me this thread is drawing to a close. I still have some questions about my Bugis keris, but there seems not to be many collectors specialising in this type of keris. I am truly indebted to those who have volunteered answers up till now. I have become better informed with regard to my two kerisses, thanks to you all! Perhaps I could just, in parting, try to still get confirmation for my guess that my Bugis keris hilt is made of kemuning wood? But I do not have a clue with regards to the gandar wood.

Johan

[Jean]

Hello Johan,
Yes, the hilt of your kris seems to be made from kemuning, and the gandar (stem) possibly from angsana (pterocarpus indicus). See the Malay Art Gallery site for reference.
Regarding the number of luks, I agree with what David said, the maximum number of luks for standard Javanese dapurs is 13 (not 7), and the Bugis seem to favor the blades with either 7 or 9 luks. The blades with more than 13 luks are called kalawija.
Regards