Dagger

Dagger with narrow straight blade, splotchy watery patterning (pamor). Faceted, polished medium brown wood handle, slighted bent (“young shoot in tree trunk”); two deeply carved areas on inner face with stylized leafy motifs in place of the usual abstract masks or monster faces. Small knobby projection above upper carving. Possibly represents wayang servant-clown Semar. The metal ring between the blade and the handle is decorated with beaded bands top and bottom, with bands of larger beads and triangular prongs in between. One of a class of daggers called kris, defined by the widening at one side of the blade base. Kris are not only weapons but also works of art and objects of mythical, ritual, and ceremonial significance: in 2005, UNESCO gave the title “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” to the kris of Indonesia.