Dagger

Dagger with wavy blade (9 curves), blotchy watery pattering (pamor). Handle (wrangka) brown wood, curved to bulbous end, with plain base but otherwise carved overall with vaguely vegetal designs. Ring between blade and handle has rows of beading top and bottom, with rows of balls 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.