Iron Ancestors: Kris Sajen, Kris Majapahit and Related Object

This book is about the Iron Ancestors, these remarkable objects, amulets rather than weapons, material witnesses of an ancestor cult that permeates many phases of Indonesian culture from the earliest times to the present.

The main group and the relatively best-known embodies the all-iron kris with a stylized human being as its hilt. But this book includes other objects, even less known, most of which have found only scant mention in difficult to obtain specialized publications or have been ignored all together. What they have in common is that they are all-iron with an ancestor hilt. That is why the author calls them Iron Ancestors.

The three main types of all-iron kris are designated as clearly as possible. Moreover, in the largest group generally referred to as kris sajen, sacrificial kris, we present a number of separate styles that have not been previously recognized as such.

Human figures in and on blades - some, but not all, in wayang style - complete this unique exposition.

This first ever publication on the subject entirely devoted to these time-honoured heirlooms is based on the collection of the National Museum of Ethnology (Leiden, the Netherlands) and on a private collection of great quality and quantity. Theo Alkema's Iron Ancestors is enhanced with 288 illustrations by top photographer Ben Grishaaver and with 27 exquisite drawings by the artist Karel Sirag.

Hardcover with dust jacket

Book condition: Fine. As new

Dust Jacket condition: Fine

Author: Theo Alkema

Dimensions: 22.5 x 29 cm

Print length: 222 Pages

Language: English

Publication date: 2010

Publisher: Zwartenkot Art Books

ISBN:‎ 9789054500117