Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Rick · 30th April 2006, 09:14 PM

Hi Ariel , just my opinion but I think this can be quite a subjective question .

In the case of the krisses under discussion I'm led to ask myself "What would the original owner do ?" ; in most cases I think that if the sword in its native environment was damaged to the point of the ivory pommel piece in question that either a repair , replacement or modification would be done . I would also think the same would apply to the kris without a pommel .

Now this may be unique to the world of keris and kris ; but the heart and soul of these weapons is the blade regardless of Indo/Malay or Moro origin .
In these cultures dress was and is replaced regularly as it aged or was damaged ; not to do so was considered disrespectful to the keris/kris itself .
Often hilts would be removed and sold if the owner hit hard times ; then a less expensive hilt would be used .
Now when these pieces wind up in Western hands *in my opinion* providing a quality repair or replacement can be done if it is in keeping with the culture .

When it comes down to it the blade is the heart and soul of the keris/kris and is deserving of honor regardless of the culture it winds up in .

30th April 2006, 09:14 PM	#6
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	The Opinion of a Kris/Keris Collector Hi Ariel , just my opinion but I think this can be quite a subjective question . In the case of the krisses under discussion I'm led to ask myself "What would the original owner do ?" ; in most cases I think that if the sword in its native environment was damaged to the point of the ivory pommel piece in question that either a repair , replacement or modification would be done . I would also think the same would apply to the kris without a pommel . Now this may be unique to the world of keris and kris ; but the heart and soul of these weapons is the blade regardless of Indo/Malay or Moro origin . In these cultures dress was and is replaced regularly as it aged or was damaged ; not to do so was considered disrespectful to the keris/kris itself . Often hilts would be removed and sold if the owner hit hard times ; then a less expensive hilt would be used . Now when these pieces wind up in Western hands in my opinion providing a quality repair or replacement can be done if it is in keeping with the culture . When it comes down to it the blade is the heart and soul of the keris/kris and is deserving of honor regardless of the culture it winds up in .