keris Minangkabau

[Jean]

Originally Posted by kai

The nice blade might be too tall for this type of wronko.

The hilt seems to be too tall for Sulawesi - this style is Sumatran, Straits, or west coast Melayu.

The blade could be from Palembang (unless collected early, the blade surface seems more consistent with Palembang as well as the bold pamor).

Regards,
Kai

Yes I agree, the blade is more probably from South Sumatra than Bugis, but not Minang anyway.
Regards

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Yes I agree, the blade is more probably from South Sumatra than Bugis, but not Minang anyway.

Jean, Minangkabau keris are not my area of concentration. In fact i have no examples presently in my collection. So i am curious about identification. Many Minang blades i have seen are of the anak alang of keris bahari form, but i have seen others that are not. I do understand what Kai is saying about the bold pamor being somewhat Palembang-like, but i believe i can recall also seeing some Minang examples having bold pamor even if most do not. But when you dismiss this as being a Minang blade, can you explain your criteria so that we can better understand your reasoning?
As for the sheath stem, i agree that is probably a replacement since it does not terminate as we would expect the original gandar to on such dress. It doesn't really take much away from this lovely piece for me though. After all, when a sheath is damaged it must either be repaired or replaced. Perhaps this os not the best replacement stylistically, but i am willing to bet it looks a far bit better now then before they replaced it.
And i will repeat again, this is a lovely blade regardless of its exact origin.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Jean, Minangkabau keris are not my area of concentration. In fact i have no examples presently in my collection. So i am curious about identification. Many Minang blades i have seen are of the anak alang of keris bahari form, but i have seen others that are not. I do understand what Kai is saying about the bold pamor being somewhat Palembang-like, but i believe i can recall also seeing some Minang examples having bold pamor even if most do not. But when you dismiss this as being a Minang blade, can you explain your criteria so that we can better understand your reasoning?

Hi David,
I am not totally dismissing that the blade could be from Minang origin but I find it very unlikely: As you say many Minang krisses are fitted with either a straight bahari blade (the origin of which being generally assigned to the Riau province), or a shorter rustic style with 3 luks. Both types of blades have no clearly visible pamor pattern.
I have attached pics of 2 typical specimens of these blades and I have several similar ones.
The blade from Sirek is totally different as it is longer and has a clear pamor pattern and an elegant dapur with ganja iras which is quite common in South Sumatra.
Regards

[Jean]

Please see a luk blade attributed to South Sumatra with a fine pamor pattern as the one from Sirek and a ganja iras also.
Regards