kris holder

Kris holder of carved painted wood, in form of the goddess Durga. Brown body with heavy bare breasts, red painted skirt with gold motifs, belt with gold buckle, crown and short collar. Large earplugs in each ear. A slot in the left hand for the insertion of a keris. The right arm is bent with the hand in a gesture in which the thumb is touched by the first two fingers, all three pointing upwards. At the back of the headdress a stylised face. The long black hair is painted to hang down the back. Plaque in silver on plinth reads: 'This idol belonged to Majopahit, Emperor of the Indian Archpelago about the year 1470. Was brought from Balie Island to Soerbaya Java and presented to Captain J.R. Blacklin by the Rajah a decendant [sic] of the Emperor. 24th February 1882.'

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk