Point of Geographic Origin?

A. G. Maisey · 2nd April 2010, 08:51 AM

Dave, Alan was not playing "gotcha".

Alan was seeking an uninfluenced opinion on the possible source of these keris.

The labels say "Malay Peninsula", but the place name where they were collected is decidedly unclear. I've had it under magnification many times over many years, and I don't know the place name with any exactness yet.

Is it Patanei or Palanei ?

Is Patanei a valid or antiquated spelling for Pattani?

Is Palanei the name of a place?

I don't know. Do you or anybody else know?

As for classification of keris in areas outside Jawa and Bali, I also have seen a very great variety in blade forms and dress. Not so long ago I handled a keris that had been given by a village headman in Sumatra to an Australian soldier during WWII as a 'thank you" for saving his life. Apparently he was wearing it at the time, took it off and gave it to the soldier. This was somewhere on the north coast of Sumatra. It was a typical Bugis blade with a Palembang hilt and a reshaped Javanese gayaman wrongko.. If I'd seen it without the knowledge of where it came from I would have said it was a dealers composite.

Over the years I have come to the opinion that once we move away from the direct influence of a kraton, or other ruling entity, people in towns and villages all over the keris bearing areas, tended to make, wear and use keris according to what they were able to get hold of. I have several keris that have come from villages in the back country of Central Jawa that bear almost no recogniseable relationship to the keris styles that we associate with the Central Javanese centers of power.

2nd April 2010, 08:51 AM	#11
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	Dave, Alan was not playing "gotcha". Alan was seeking an uninfluenced opinion on the possible source of these keris. The labels say "Malay Peninsula", but the place name where they were collected is decidedly unclear. I've had it under magnification many times over many years, and I don't know the place name with any exactness yet. Is it Patanei or Palanei ? Is Patanei a valid or antiquated spelling for Pattani? Is Palanei the name of a place? I don't know. Do you or anybody else know? As for classification of keris in areas outside Jawa and Bali, I also have seen a very great variety in blade forms and dress. Not so long ago I handled a keris that had been given by a village headman in Sumatra to an Australian soldier during WWII as a 'thank you" for saving his life. Apparently he was wearing it at the time, took it off and gave it to the soldier. This was somewhere on the north coast of Sumatra. It was a typical Bugis blade with a Palembang hilt and a reshaped Javanese gayaman wrongko.. If I'd seen it without the knowledge of where it came from I would have said it was a dealers composite. Over the years I have come to the opinion that once we move away from the direct influence of a kraton, or other ruling entity, people in towns and villages all over the keris bearing areas, tended to make, wear and use keris according to what they were able to get hold of. I have several keris that have come from villages in the back country of Central Jawa that bear almost no recogniseable relationship to the keris styles that we associate with the Central Javanese centers of power.