Sumatran Mystery?

[A. G. Maisey]

I'm with you David:- this is a genuine keris, but it has been produced outside the area of influence of a major cultural center.

Yes, many people hold the opinion that any keris that does not follow a defined pattern that has been set down either by tradition, or in an authorised guide-book (pakem) is outside the guidelines and thus not a keris.

To a degree, this is legitimate point of view, and it is reasonable to apply this standard to those keris which are of superior workmanship of a level that indicates production by a knowledgeable and skilled maker.

However, we often tend to forget that there were vast areas of S.E.Asia that were not under the direct influence of any cultural center, or center of power, and these areas were occupied by ordinary people --- subsistence farmers, fishermen, forest workers. If one of these people needed a keris to be made, they would most likely turn to the nearest smith. If there was no existing keris available for the smith to copy, he had to work from memory. The result is most often a simple keris of rather pedestrian workmanship.

A similar thing happened with dress:- in the palace environment, or urban setting, it was essential that a man's keris should be dressed in the correct fashion, however, in a village setting away from a major center, the rules were (and are) not nearly so strict. If it was necessary to produce a scabbard, or a hilt, the owner himself would often produce these himself. In fact, in days long past, the production of all weapon dress was most probably done by the owner as a display of his skill in carving, the male balance to the female skill of weaving.

Skilled craftsmen lived in towns and cities and were paid for their work, but these skilled craftsmen were not available to everybody.