Puzzling greneng works

[Alam Shah]

The greneng, as we know it is on the left side of the tapering base of the keris.
Could anyone give pointers on what this represents? :)

[David]

That is cool and unusual Shahrial. Any chance we could see the whole blade? :)

[A. G. Maisey]

Looks to me like somebody got carried away by his muse.

[Newsteel]

Yup, the whole blade please. That greneng is uncommon. But often we found that on sundang keris meant for high status person.

[Alam Shah]

Here's the full blade. You can also see it here...
http://alamshah.fotopic.net/c1047834.html

[David]

Thanks Shahrial. I like the overall look of this blade. The gandik area seems a bit unusal as well. Very interesting keris. :)

[kai]

Hello Sharial,

I'm really looking forward to that day when a brother of this blade will show up or we get some other insights on it's provenance! Until then, it is a real puzzler... :cool:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2925

Regards,
Kai

[Alam Shah]

Hello Sharial,

I'm really looking forward to that day when a brother of this blade will show up or we get some other insights on it's provenance! Until then, it is a real puzzler... :cool:
Yeah... I was hoping that some of us, ... with new acquired knowledge and seen, reviewed more kerises... etc, might get additional info.

I started fresh... to let our new members comment accordingly... some might have seen something similar...etc. ;)

[Alam Shah]

Bumping this up again. :D Anyone have any ideas, comments... etc? ;)

[Rick]

This work reminds me a lot of okir decoration . :)

[Marcokeris]

The greneng, as we know it is on the left side of the tapering base of the keris.
Could anyone give pointers on what this represents? :)
I dont know what represents but.... Alam it is, IMO, a beautiful keris :)

[Alam Shah]

Thanks Marco. ;)
Rick, it does looks like okir...
Thanks Kai for the piece. :D... still no cigars... :confused:

[Rick]

No cigars yes, but do you suppose this in any way reinforces the link between Sumatra and the southern Philippines ?

Do we see any non martial applications of this type of style in any Sumatran art ? :confused:

[RobT]

Hi All,
It's a really nice looking keris but what strikes me as odd is that the tang appears to be off center to the axis of the thrust. Am I seeing something that isn't there?
Sincerely,
RobT

[Alam Shah]

Hi RobT, sharp observation. ;)
See more pics here...
http://alamshah.fotopic.net/c1047834.html

[David]

Maybe there is a Turkish connection... :rolleyes: ... ;)

[PenangsangII]

AlamShah, maybe you should change the hilt to Yatagan style...hahaha....

[Alam Shah]

Maybe there is a Turkish connection... :rolleyes: ... ;)Hmmm... maybe, if I'll try to get the 'bearish' jawa demam hilt form, which is known to be Sumatran... a form found used in Minangkabau pieces. It have 'ears' like the yataghan hilt. :confused: ;)

[RobT]

Hi All,
Hopefully my comment isn't so far off base as to have me compared to a recent "contributor" to the forum but after seeing the other photos on the AlamShah website, the tang still looks further toward the dagu side of the keris than is normal. If that is the case then, given the quality of the blade, I have to imagine the empu knew exactly what he was doing and the offset was deliberate. What then was the reason for that positioning?
Sincerely,
RobT

[kai]

Some keris have a pesi much more prominently based off-center than this example. I have no pics at hand but those I can remember from the top of my head were a few sepokal blades and a variant keris panjang.

I'd need to handle such a keris to assess the function. Maybe with the curved sepokal blades it doesn't make that much of a difference, anyway? :shrug:

Regards,
Kai