Bugis Sheath Info Requested

[RobT]

Hi All,

My wife gave me this very nice 3 luk Bugis keris with its very well carved, ivory Java demam hilt and silver selut for my birthday. I have four questions about the sheath which appears to be fairly recent. I know that I will need to make a small modification to the throat in order for the blade to seat properly but the size of the wranka appears to be proportionate to the hilt.
1) Is the sheath (which appears to be Sulawesi) appropriate for a Sumatera hilt?
2) Even though the gandar is considerably longer than the blade, can I leave it as is?
3) If the gandar needs to be shortened, how short can I make it without it appearing too “stumpy”
4) I would like to replace the damaged buntut with something to match the hilt. Would camel bone be appropriate?. I have some ivory scraps that could work also but I would prefer to use bone.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Gustav]

Rob, before you start doing something, could you please post a picture of mouth of the sheath, blade sitting in it?
You have here a Malay hilt and Pendokok, and Malay sheath. Even if the sheath was not made for this blade, I wouldn't shorten it.
There are a lot of sheaths ruined by collectors, who think sheath should match the length of blade, and blade shouldn't be visible when sitting in sheath.

[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav is correct Rob.

In times past Bugis & Malay & Balinese keris were often fitted to the scabbard with the gonjo visible.

[Sajen]

Hello Rob,

Like Gustav stated, you have a Malay keris, the handle will be from hippo ivory. And please don't shorten the gandar, it would be a great mistake. I would polish the scabbard with a good oil, it will look much better after this. And I wouldn't replace the little damaged buntut of the scabbard with bone of some sort, I would use ivory or wood instead.

Regards,
Detlef

[RobT]

Gustav & A. G. Maisey,
Here are the pictures of the blade seated in the throat. As you can see, the aring side is an exact fit but there is a lot of room in front of the blade on the dagu side. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be too bothered by the ganja sitting slightly proud of the wranka but in this case, the width of the of the blade just below the tang is slightly wider than the throat. This has made that area a pivot point so that the blade rocks back and forth like a teeter totter when seated. I think that widening that area by 1/64” (.0396875 mm) or less will allow the blade to seat solidly in the sheath. A light pass or two on each side of the throat with a fine cut riffler file should do the trick. I have enough woodworking experience to be confidant about doing this properly. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is anything to be done about the gap in front of the blade on the dagu side.

Sajen,
I am very happy that you and Gustav agree that the gandar should be left as is. I was very loath to cut it down in the first place and was only willing to do so if it were absolutely necessary. Since shortening the gandar is no longer needed, I think that repair of the existing buntut is preferable to replacement.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Sajen]

Yes, you are correct, it's not the original scabbard for the blade.

[David]

We often see keris fitted to a sheath that is not originally made for it. It is both common and acceptable. However, given the great gap in the fit here i have my doubts that this was anything that was done in culture for traditional use. Generally if that much of a gap was left after fitting a keris to an unrelated sheath it would be filled in some way to create a more acceptable fit. It seems more likely to me that the seller had a naked keris and a spare sheath and that he simply paired them for the sale. While i agree with Gustav that sheaths are not always meant to match the length of the blade, this keris appears to be a keris selit/sisip and if this is the case the sheath most definitely should match the blade length. These are small, secondary keris that are meant to be tucked into a waistband. As such they should be is much smaller dress that allows for this kind of wear.
The best solution would, of course, be to have a new sheath created for this keris, but i understand all too well how that is not really possible for collectors that live far outside the culture. My suggestion in this case would be that you don't alter the sheath length. If you were to replace the buntut i would chose the ivory material you have if you really want to match the hilt. You might consider trying to fill the space in the gap for a better blade fit. You could shape a wooden piece for that purpose. In some cases shellac has been used.

[Sajen]

Hello Rob,

Here are two pics from a Malay keris where the scabbard isn't original to the blade and someone, I guess in Malaysia, filled the gap with resin or like David said with shellac.

Regards,
Detlef

[RobT]

David,
Thanks for your input. I agree with you and Sajen. There is no doubt that the sheath isn’t original to the blade. I’m just thankful that the style of the sheath is appropriate to the style of the hilt.
I’m not too sure about this selit/sisip thing. In the example you show, the hilt and wranka of the smaller blade are noticeably smaller than those components on the full size keris. My hilt, when the blade is sheathed, looks proportionately correct for the wranka. Also, I eyeballed my selut against a number of Garuda hilted keris I have and it looks like it is large enough to fit them. In addition to this, I had to reseat the hilt because it was loose. The tang hole in the selut is certainly large enough for a full size keris, So, if the blade is for a selit/sisip, it was fitted with a full size hilt.
Even though I think the sheath is fairly new, I was not at all keen about modifying it by shortening the gandar and since everybody (you included) that has commented on this has recommended against it, I will follow this good advice. Since I am not cutting down the gandar, there is no reason to replace the buntut. I think that, the more things that can be left as original, the better so I will just repair the damage to the existing buntut.
The only other change I will make is to widen the sheath throat a hair so the blade seats properly and doesn’t wobble.

Sajen,
Thanks for the example. I could fairly easily fit a piece of wood to fill the gap on the dagu side of the blade. I don’t think I could match the tiger figure of the wood on my sheath but I’m pretty sure my efforts would look a bit better than the example you show. Do you think it would be acceptable to fit a contrasting material in that area (eg a piece of ebony or ivory)?

Sincerely,
RobT

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by RobT

Thanks for the example. I could fairly easily fit a piece of wood to fill the gap on the dagu side of the blade. I don’t think I could match the tiger figure of the wood on my sheath but I’m pretty sure my efforts would look a bit better than the example you show. Do you think it would be acceptable to fit a contrasting material in that area (eg a piece of ebony or ivory)?

Hi Rob,

Yes, that's a job which can be done much better, just want to show how such a gap is filled up by some locals.
I have had a repair done by a professional restorer here in Germany which is hardly visible, I tried to make pics of these but I need daylight for these pictures, I'll take them tomorrow and post them here.
I wouldn't use such contrasting materials for such a repair/restoration, I personally would look for wood with a similar colour.

Regards,
Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

Rob, my keris experience is very considerable where Jawa & Bali are concerned, it stretches over more than 60 years & is ongoing, however my field experience with Malaysia & other parts of Indonesia is very limited.

In Jawa & Bali the keris is a required part of formal dress, in both of these places it is not at all unusual for a small blade to be fitted to, or accommodated in, a full size scabbard. Nobody knows what the blade looks like when the keris is worn as an item of dress.

Perhaps a similar approach to the wearing of a keris as an item of dress might apply in places other than just Jawa & Bali.

[A. G. Maisey]

Here is an example of a small Surakarta Pasupati fitted to a normal size Surakarta ladrangan wrongko.

Perfect for dress purposes, and nobody knows what the blade is like.

Sorry for the sub-standard foto, pressed for time.

[Sajen]

Here are two examples where the sheath was professionally adapted to a blade. By both scabbards was a gap in front.

[David]

Rob, how long is the blade of your keris?

[RobT]

A. G. Maisey,
Thanks for those examples. If the folks in Java fit a full size hilt to a short blade to make the ensemble work with a full size sheath, I think it is reasonably likely that the practice is followed in other areas of the keris world. It’s the way I’m going, for sure.

Sajen,
I have already opened the sheath throat slightly to seat the blade so it no longer wobbles. As I thought it would, the aring side now fits very well so I have decided to carve a piece of wood to fill the gap on the dagu side. Your examples show me what to shoot for. Cutting the wood to fit isn’t really the problem. Color and figure (aka grain) matching the existing wood is where it gets dicey. Once the type of wood is selected, various staining methods can be tried out on scraps of the same wood. This narrows the odds a bit because you really only have one shot to get it right after the piece is cut to fit. It will take a while to get this project done but I’ll post the results when I finish.

David,
I can’t believe I neglected to give the blade length. It’s 8.5” (21.59 cm).

Sincerely,
RobT

[Rick]

Here's an example of a keris fitted to a sarong. The gap has been lined and the blade properly fitted. In this case the filled area is dark and is not really jarring to the eye as the keris itself is a near color match.

[A. G. Maisey]

Rick, the way in which your scabbard has been adapted for use is a style that some m'ranggis in Solo (Jawa Tengah) call "wayang" style, yours looks as it it has been done with some sort of compound, but the preferred way to do this is to enlarge the gap by about 1/8th of an inch, & then very neatly fit a wooden plug in a contrasting wood, this new wood is then inlet to take the new blade.

The end result --- when done well --- is pretty impressive.

[David]

Originally Posted by RobT

I can’t believe I neglected to give the blade length. It’s 8.5” (21.59 cm)

"If the folks in Java fit a full size hilt to a short blade to make the ensemble work with a full size sheath, I think it is reasonably likely that the practice is followed in other areas of the keris world. It’s the way I’m going, for sure."

Well, the thing is this isn't just a "short keris". As far as i know there is not any evidence of patrem (small women's keris) in Malay culture. That is something you find in Jawa and Madura mostly. At 8.5" it is almost certainly intended as a keris selit. Again, i think it is more likely that this dress came together inorder to sell the keris, not as an ensemble that was intended to actually be worn in culture. Yes, perhaps the hilt seems somewhat OK with the size of the hilt. Perhaps it is not even the original hilt for that blade.
I don't think this should change your plans for this keris in its current dress, but i am fairly sure this was once is a much smaller sheath and an may or may not have had a different hilt, though this current hilt doesn't really look too large for this blade and frankly does look just a bit too small for the current sheath.

[David]

This is an old and worn example of a sheath adjusted to fit a smaller blade.