Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Slim Kojuk Mrenges Keris Hilt from Madura

A. G. Maisey · 1st February 2016, 06:12 AM

Actually David, young children did wear keris. There is a reference to this in the Ying Yai Sheng Lan, and I've seen it in other places too. Even now, if a a young boy gets dressed in full formal dress, he will wear a keris sometimes. I think I remember that the age at which they began/begin to wear a keris was/is 6. A six year old Javanese child is quite a bit smaller than a six year old of European stock.

But this does not mean that a small hilt might not have been intended for a woman, or even for a small man.

1st February 2016, 06:12 AM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,711	Actually David, young children did wear keris. There is a reference to this in the Ying Yai Sheng Lan, and I've seen it in other places too. Even now, if a a young boy gets dressed in full formal dress, he will wear a keris sometimes. I think I remember that the age at which they began/begin to wear a keris was/is 6. A six year old Javanese child is quite a bit smaller than a six year old of European stock. But this does not mean that a small hilt might not have been intended for a woman, or even for a small man.