Keris lurus for comment and discussion

[A. G. Maisey]

No Bjorn, I do not have a keris ring, nor have I seen a picture of one. I believe I saw one once in Solo, but I could neither handle it nor buy it. My memory of it is that it had very slightly raised rim around each edge, this of course created a recessed central band which if it was a keris ring, the top of the gonjo would sit in, and the rim on each side would prevent it from slipping off the ring and biting into the finger.

I think perhaps Gardner may have mentioned keris rings, If not Gardner, one of the writers from that era.

[Bjorn]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

No Bjorn, I do not have a keris ring, nor have I seen a picture of one. I believe I saw one once in Solo, but I could neither handle it nor buy it. My memory of it is that it had very slightly raised rim around each edge, this of course created a recessed central band which if it was a keris ring, the top of the gonjo would sit in, and the rim on each side would prevent it from slipping off the ring and biting into the finger.

I think perhaps Gardner may have mentioned keris rings, If not Gardner, one of the writers from that era.

Interesting stuff, Alan.
It seems these rings are a rarity these days, which makes sense considering they served a very particular, practical function related to using a keris as a weapon. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I remember the use of keris as weapons was already less frequent during the 19th c. (at least in Jawa). Instead, the focus during this period was already on the social and religious aspects of the keris. Would it then be fair to assume that keris rings had already fallen out of general usage even during this period of time?

Regardless, I assume that many of these rings were eventually molten down for re-use in the creation of other materials.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Bjorn, I cannot disagree with that which you have written.

[GIO]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

No Bjorn, I do not have a keris ring, nor have I seen a picture of one. I believe I saw one once in Solo, but I could neither handle it nor buy it. My memory of it is that it had very slightly raised rim around each edge, this of course created a recessed central band which if it was a keris ring, the top of the gonjo would sit in, and the rim on each side would prevent it from slipping off the ring and biting into the finger.

I think perhaps Gardner may have mentioned keris rings, If not Gardner, one of the writers from that era.

Yes, Alan is right, as usual. Gardner dedicated few words to keris rings in his book. He also added a photo where two rings (chinchin melawan) are shown among a few pendongkok.
The pic is rather bad and apparently nothing distinctive appear. They seem common rings.

[Bjorn]

Originally Posted by GIO

Yes, Alan is right, as usual. Gardner dedicated few words to keris rings in his book. He also added a photo where two rings (chinchin melawan) are shown among a few pendongkok.
The pic is rather bad and apparently nothing distinctive appear. They seem common rings.

Thanks for the confirmation, Gio. I'll have a look at Gardner again one of these days.