Keris and Hilt for Comment

[BluErf]

Originally Posted by ganjawulung

BluErf,
This is the sole picture of the hilt. And please regard too, to the other picture I took from Mr Hamzuri book, "Petunjuk Singkat tentang Keris" (Short Guide on Keris) published by the Department of Education and Culture (1973). Mr Hamzuri showed to the readers a Riau Lingga (Sumatera) keris which appearance looks like Sulawesi keris...

Ganjawulung

Hi Ganjawulung,

This keris you referred to is a famous keris, and it is an archetypal Riau Bugis keris. I would say it is the benchmark for all Riau Bugis kerises. Shahrial has a couple of Riau Bugis kerises with similar hilts. Perhaps Shahrial could post pics of his 2 keris hilts for comparison.

The reason why I think your keris hilt is Sulawesi rather than Riau was because of the pierced-through 'appendage' on the underside of the head and the more acute angle of bending of the head. The "appendage" is also present in the 2 examples I referred to above, but is not so obvious in Riau examples. The more acute angle of bending is a common feature in Sulawesi pistol-grip hilts.

However, I may be wrong. So if anyone has any information, references, please raise them. Thank you.