Bugis Keris

[Spunjer]

thanks for the comment, Detlef! that was my initial thought, that the foot (buntut?) was missing, but upon closer look, the patina is uniform throughout with no sign of having anything attached to it. of course there's a possibility that it might have one at certain point, but if it did, it must have came off early in its life.

[David]

I really like this keris. The hilt is both beautiful and unusual. The blade is quite nice as well. As Jean stated in his second reply, pendokok is probably a better term than selut for the hilt cup. Of course one could always just say "hilt cup". While we are discussing terminology i am not sure i would refer to the bevelled surfaces here as gusen. Again this is Javanese terminology, but AFAIK gusen refers to a rather narrow bevel right at the very edge of the blade. The classic Bugis bevel here seems too broad to be referred to in this way, but maybe i am mistaken on that front.
I'm not sure if there was ever a buntet on this sheath stem or not. A shot from the bottom might clear that up. I wouldn't worry about the age of the sheath as much as i would the quality. Dress on Indonesian keris are often changed throughout the life of the blade. One would not really expect to find an original sheath on an old blade. Looks like nice wood. Nothing fancy in the carving, but certainly competent. If it also fits the blade well than i would say it is a good marriage. Would love to hear if the hilt cup turns out to be gold.

[A. G. Maisey]

It is perfectly legitimate to refer to the blade bevel as a "gusen" -- if we are to use Javanese terms to describe this blade, and since we use the word "keris" to describe the overall blade, then we probably should be OK to use "gusen" as well.

In fact, "gusen" is variation of "kusen", which is a variation of "kosen".

"kosen" is a frame, as in a window frame or a door frame.

the blade bevel frames the blade, thus "gusen", or "kusen", or "kosen".

In Central Jawa you will see signs outside businesses along the street that advertise that they make "gusen", or "kusen", or "kosen". These places make window and door frames, as well as other joinery.

A lot of the words that we use to describe parts of a keris are perfectly ordinary words, in many cases ordinary words used in order to hide the true names, because the true names are select knowledge.

One keris term I've always got a smile out of is "sogokan" --- this is pronounced "sogo'an", the "k" is a glottal stop.

A sogokan is a poker, as in a stick, or a pipe or similar used to poke something else, for instance, if your storm-water outlet was blocked, you'd use a sogokan to clear it.

I like David's "blade bevel" actually:- its fine to know the indigenous terms, but often the English term is more easily understood by English speakers.

[Spunjer]

thanks for the lesson in terminology! "Buntet" sounds easy enough to remember: in tagalog "buntot" means tail, so i'm assuming the toe on the scabbard has a similar connotation?
here's the close up of the bottom. as mentioned earlier, the patina is uniformed throughout

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

It is perfectly legitimate to refer to the blade bevel as a "gusen" -- if we are to use Javanese terms to describe this blade, and since we use the word "keris" to describe the overall blade, then we probably should be OK to use "gusen" as well.

In fact, "gusen" is variation of "kusen", which is a variation of "kosen".

"kosen" is a frame, as in a window frame or a door frame.

the blade bevel frames the blade, thus "gusen", or "kusen", or "kosen".

In Central Jawa you will see signs outside businesses along the street that advertise that they make "gusen", or "kusen", or "kosen". These places make window and door frames, as well as other joinery.

A lot of the words that we use to describe parts of a keris are perfectly ordinary words, in many cases ordinary words used in order to hide the true names, because the true names are select knowledge.

One keris term I've always got a smile out of is "sogokan" --- this is pronounced "sogo'an", the "k" is a glottal stop.

A sogokan is a poker, as in a stick, or a pipe or similar used to poke something else, for instance, if your storm-water outlet was blocked, you'd use a sogokan to clear it.

I like David's "blade bevel" actually:- its fine to know the indigenous terms, but often the English term is more easily understood by English speakers.

Thanks Alan. I wasn't so much arguing whether a Javanese term was appropriate here, but whether the bevel aspect of this classic Bugis blade form really qualifies to be described as a "frame for this style of blade. The bevelled aspects of this blade are the majority of the entire blade so i find it harder to see it as a "frame" for the blade in this case.

[David]

Thanks for the bottom view Ron. My person view is that a bunter would probably be proper here, but that doesn't mean one was ever there. But regardless of patina it does appear to me at least that the bottom did not receive the same staining treatment as the rest of the stem. A thin piece of ivory here would possibly have been a nice finishing touch.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your clarification David.

Yes, from a Javanese perspective there is absolutely no doubt that the blade bevel on this keris is correctly termed gusen --- or whatever of the variations we're comfortable with.

The profile of the blade is classic Bugis. The Surakarta classification system does recognise a Bugis classification, and the notes I have in respect of cross section translate as:-
"there is no ada-ada, the blade is flat and has a wide gusen".


Regarding the term we use for the cap at the end of the gandar. In Javanese terminology this is "buntut".

The word "buntut" can be used in a few different ways, it means a tail, it means the rear end of anything, it also means the result or consequence of something. So the little cap that we sometimes see on the end of a gandar is named thus because of its position:- it’s the tail of the gandar --- just as Ron guessed. Buntut is a noun.

There is also a word "buntet", this means that one end of something is closed. Buntet is an adjective.

There are other related words that have different meanings, like "buntu"= deadend, clogged, blocked; "bunting"= cut off; "bunuh"= confused (your thoughts are mixed up, so you cannot progress in thought, same idea as a deadend); "bunting" & "buncit"= youngest person in a family(the family line does not extend past the youngest); "buntas"=last part or end; "buntar"=the end of a tombak shaft, also the end of a ditch.

That "bun" syllable carries the idea of something being finished, the examples I've given are just a few that come readily to mind, but I'm sure there are a whole heap of words that begin with "bun" that the idea of closure can be seen in. I guess even the word for a wrapping --- "buntel" --- carries the same sense of being the end of something --- inside the wrapping is substance, outside the wrapping is nothing.

As I said previously a lot of keris words are just ordinary words. Perhaps one of the biggest gains that could be made in keris understanding might be to learn just a little bit of Bahasa Indonesia, and/or Javanese.

I'm no linguist, and in truth I have very limited ability in languages other than English, but I believe that if we looked at languages across SE Asia, and even into the Pacific, we would find a strong connecting thread. I've often heard Tagalog spoken, I do not understand it, but listening to it I always feel that I am on the edge of understanding what is being said, it has a very similar tone and cadence to Javanese, and the words taken individually sound comprehensible.

[David]

Thanks for the additional info Alan. Of course when i was writing auto-correct changed "buntut" to "bunter", which i can only assume is baseball terminology…

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Thanks for the bottom view Ron. My person view is that a bunter would probably be proper here, but that doesn't mean one was ever there. But regardless of patina it does appear to me at least that the bottom did not receive the same staining treatment as the rest of the stem. A thin piece of ivory here would possibly have been a nice finishing touch.

From the pics it would seem that the bottom piece is not more recent than the scabbard itself but it is not in Sulawesi nor East Sumatra Bugis style IMO, see a typical old Sulawesi scabbard for comparison.
Regards

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Jean

From the pics it would seem that the bottom piece is not more recent than the scabbard itself but it is not in Sulawesi nor East Sumatra Bugis style IMO, see a typical old Sulawesi scabbard for comparison.
Regards

Hello Jean,

like said before, the keris could be from North Sumatra, have a look to Jensens Kris Disk, the stars around the bottom from the handle are typical for Gayo. This would explain also the somewhat unusual scabbard style.

Regards,
Detlef