Title
Balinese keris
Year/Period
Mid-late 19th century
Region
Bali, Indonesia
Object Type
krises, sheaths (cases)
Material
horn (animal material), ivory (material), wood (plant material), iron (metal), silver (metal), semiprecious stone
Technique
woodworking, metalworking, carving (processes), inlay (process)
Dimension
Object size: 59.0 x 17.0 x 6.0 cm
Accession No.
2008-07673
Collection of
NLB Type
Cultural artefact
This finely made Balinese keris has a blade with 13 waves or luk and a finely carved horn hilt with silver gilt applique panels set with gemstones. The sheath is of ivory and fancy grained hardwood. Keris of such quality would have been owned by a high ranking aristocrat. The relatively rare hilt form, known as a kocet-kocetan, is thought to have been reserved exclusively for priests of the Brahmin caste. It is a representation of Batara Karpa, a Balinese mythological deity in the form of a beetle, born of a union of Resi Kasyapa, the primordial father of the gods and Dewi Winata who also gave birth to the god Garuda. Interestingly this mythology is exclusively Balinese and is not known in Indian Hindu myth.
