Keris Hilt

Keris Hilt Th e statue has been carved from a piece of wood, and rubbed or painted with a black paint. Details of the seat have been picked out in yellow gold.

By Paul Duff y and Wazeem Johnston

Indonesian archipelago

This is a small statue of a chubby male figure sitting on a Tumpal Throne, he is smiling, looks peaceful, in a relaxed position with his right arm behind his back holding his left elbow. He is holding something in his right hand.

The “tumpal” motif is the triangular motif you can see around the throne. It is an ancient and very important motif in Archipelago culture. This relates to the Hindu concept of “three”, everything comes in threes.

The statue has been carved from a piece of wood, and rubbed or painted with a black paint. Details of the seat have been picked out in yellow gold.

This was probably an ebonised figure sitting on a yellow throne and with the “stones” in the selut painted red, these three colours (yellow, black and red) represent the Hindu Trinity.

This statue is the hilt of a keris, probably from Bali or Lombok. The hilt was on a keris from an old, local collection. The fellow had been collecting over 30 years and this keris and other edged weapons had been hanging on the wall for a long time. The keris blade was not of great interest.

However, this hilt has been well made.

The carving of the hilt, arms, legs and body have been well conceived and executed. When I pick up the statute, as a hilt, with the head in the palm of my right hand, it sits comfortably. I have to remember that a keris is a weapon, and an item of dress in Bali.

I have illustrated another hilt. A small statue of a nude boy with a smiling, cheerful face. This is made of ivory. The seat the boy is sitting on is also probably a Tumpal Throne, although the position of the arms is diff erent. This hilt is illustrated in The Beauty of Kris Hilt, from The Collection of Aswin Wirjadi.

These naked boy figures can be understood as either Sang Hyang Rare Kumara who was Siwa’s son, adopted, or as Dewa Rare Angon, who is an aspect of Siwa himself.

Keris hilts come in many forms, Gods, priests, demons, animals and forms from nature. In our western culture when we see a figure carved as something that resembles a God, priest, demon or whatever, we expect to be able to give it a name. In Balinese culture the hilt or statue only exists to personify the invisible force, the world we cannot see. Perhaps all the statues do is personify them for people who do not yet have the ability to conjure them without a point of focus.

There is a wayang story that involves Dewa Rare Kumara (ie Sang Hyang Rare Kumara), ultimately escaping danger, so Dewa Rare Kumara is regarded as the God of children, who protects children.

I find my wooden keris hilt fascinating, well carved. I won’t place a name on it.

The figural Balinese hilts are called “totogan”.

They are always protective in nature. The figure is the representative of an unseen spiritual force that permits an ordinary person to focus on that idea, this also applies in mainstream Hindu faith.

The major thing to understand is that they are always protective.

References 1. The Keris and the Naga, Alan Maisey. Arms Cavalcade 2000. 2. Ethnographic Arms & Armour Forum. 3. www.kerisattosanji.com website of Alan Maisey. 4. Understanding Balinese Keris. An Insider’s Perpsective by Pande

Wayan Suteja Neka. 5. The Art and Culture of Bali, Museum der Kulturen Basel. 6. The Beauty of the Keris Hilt, by Aswin Wirjadi.