Keris - for Tourists?

Henk · 20th January 2005, 09:05 PM

Naga Sasra,

This is more what I mean. The colors of your keris are not so shiny and the crochet ornaments are typical too for this keris.
This type of keris is present in the national museum of ethnology in Leiden, Holland. The paint however is much more faded. If this one arrived in the early 20th century in Scandinavia it is very well preserved and certainly not a tourist item. Also the keris itself looks to be in a good condition.

Naga Basuki, I would like to see some pictures of your keris. Please post them, so that we can have a look.

Rick, these kerisses don't come from the dayak but from the papoea of Irian Jaya. I think that they considered the blade as just a dagger. How these tribes thought about these items, I must admit that I don't know. But they were very primitive, so I think they didn't apreciate keris the way keris should be apreciated. On the other hand they were also familiar with the mandau so there could be some trade with the dayak. But it is more likely that some papoea's lost their head during these meetings.

20th January 2005, 09:05 PM	#11
Henk Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,209	Naga Sasra, This is more what I mean. The colors of your keris are not so shiny and the crochet ornaments are typical too for this keris. This type of keris is present in the national museum of ethnology in Leiden, Holland. The paint however is much more faded. If this one arrived in the early 20th century in Scandinavia it is very well preserved and certainly not a tourist item. Also the keris itself looks to be in a good condition. Naga Basuki, I would like to see some pictures of your keris. Please post them, so that we can have a look. Rick, these kerisses don't come from the dayak but from the papoea of Irian Jaya. I think that they considered the blade as just a dagger. How these tribes thought about these items, I must admit that I don't know. But they were very primitive, so I think they didn't apreciate keris the way keris should be apreciated. On the other hand they were also familiar with the mandau so there could be some trade with the dayak. But it is more likely that some papoea's lost their head during these meetings.