"Balinese Keris" book

Jean · 31st May 2020, 09:15 AM

IP,
Gardner was stationed in Malaysia and his descriptions of the Indonesian krisses are somewhat inaccurate and obsolete.
The best source for buying the recent Groneman book is the site Ethnographic Art Books (the online library of the Leiden Museum), the book N° is 9243 but the price is very high!
Regards

A. G. Maisey · 31st May 2020, 12:00 PM

I consider Gardner to be of historical value, he provides a point of view and level of belief that was current at his time. As for inaccuracy, well, the entire body of keris literature is studded with inaccuracies, including Groneman's work. If one is particularly tied to the concept of accuracy, it is perhaps best not to become too involved with keris. In fact, it is very difficult to claim that anything about the keris is totally accurate unless the claim to accuracy is hedged with qualifications. It is perhaps best to think of the entire body of keris "knowledge" as keris "belief".

31st May 2020, 09:15 AM	#1
Jean Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,740	IP, Gardner was stationed in Malaysia and his descriptions of the Indonesian krisses are somewhat inaccurate and obsolete. The best source for buying the recent Groneman book is the site Ethnographic Art Books (the online library of the Leiden Museum), the book N° is 9243 but the price is very high! Regards Last edited by Jean; 31st May 2020 at 09:28 AM.

31st May 2020, 12:00 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,019	I consider Gardner to be of historical value, he provides a point of view and level of belief that was current at his time. As for inaccuracy, well, the entire body of keris literature is studded with inaccuracies, including Groneman's work. If one is particularly tied to the concept of accuracy, it is perhaps best not to become too involved with keris. In fact, it is very difficult to claim that anything about the keris is totally accurate unless the claim to accuracy is hedged with qualifications. It is perhaps best to think of the entire body of keris "knowledge" as keris "belief".