Kris (sword)

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Photo by John Bentham.
Kris (sword)
Photo by John Bentham.
Datebefore 1860
MediumIron, wood, twine
DimensionsOverall (Sword): 21 × 7 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (53.3 × 19.1 × 3.2 cm) Overall (Sheath): 19 × 2 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (48.3 × 6.4 × 3.2 cm)
Credit LineTransfer from the Hamilton College Anthropology Department
Object number2023.10.39a-b
On view
DescriptionKris (keris), an asymetrical sword used as both a weapon and spiritual object. Used in the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat, but also used by the Moro people of the Philippines. A handwritten inscription on the sheath implies that this sword belonged to the Malay people of the Malay Peninsula.

Additional Details

Inscribed "Malay Creece [kris] April.26.1860 Cabinet" written on base of sheath

Illegible text on handle
Photo by John Bentham.
Unknown artist, Moro
Date: 1870-1915
Medium: Iron, brass, wood, rawhide, woven grass
Object number: 2023.10.33a-b
Photo by John Bentham.
Unknown artist, Moro
Date: 1870-1915
Medium: Iron, wood, rawhide, woven grass
Object number: 2023.10.34a-b
Model Outrigger Canoe
Date: before 1944
Medium: Wood, twine, and paint
Object number: 2022.11.1
Photo by John Bentham.
Unknown artist, Moro
Date: 1870-1915
Medium: Iron, wood, woven grass
Object number: 2023.10.40a-b
Photography by David Revette.
William E. Williams
Date: 1981 (published 1985)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1992.1.2
Drawing His Sword for the Political Roman Church, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 23, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.269
Sportsmen of Varzesh-e bāstāni in traditional costume, Iran
Paul Almasy
Date: 1959
Medium: Vintage ferrotyped gelatin silver print
Object number: 2024.21.13
Photo by John Bentham.
Walter Williams
Date: 1964
Medium: Color woodcut
Object number: 1984.394
Photo by Mark DiOrio.
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date: 19th-20th century
Medium: Cotton, leather, twine, woven grass
Object number: 2023.10.1
Photo by Mark DiOrio.
Unknown artist
Date: date unknown
Medium: Metal and wood with twine
Object number: 2023.10.30
Halibut Hook
Date: c. 1850-1875 CE
Medium: Wood, metal, spruce root, and cotton twine
Object number: 1984.504
Ⓒ Rose B. Simpson. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colleg…
Rose B. Simpson
Date: 2022
Medium: Clay, glaze, twine, bone, leather, and wood beads
Object number: 2022.19