This long, narrow keris is called 'keris anak alang'. It has an unusually thick and sturdy blade, which is characteristic of West and Central Sumatra. The hilt is made from 'kemuning' (a hard wood) in the form of an abstract human figure, which probably represents a stylised deity.The keris belongs to a group of Malay and Javanese keris collected by Gerald Brousseau Gardner (1884–1964) between 1911 and 1936. During this period, Gardner a colonial civil servant, a writer and occultist, sold approximately a hundred items to the Raffles Museum. Gardner was a weapons enthusiast. To the vast majority of European collectors at that time, the keris was merely a weapon. Gardner however, noticed the keris had a wide range of styles and make. He came to realise that each keris had its own cultural references. He often invited his Malay friends to show their keris and ‘collected’ supernatural tales of them. These tales were recorded in his book, 'Keris and Other Malay Weapons'.
