Aeng Tong Tong village.

[brekele]

Hi...
Here just want to share some pics of Aeng Tong Tong Village in Madura.
(Keris Village). Just hope you like it.

Regards
Brekele.

[David]

Thank you Brekele. Nice pictures! :)

[kino]

I likes. Any more?

[brekele]

Thanks Dave, It seem nice village in spring time (February).
Onething I heard from my friend that forbidden to make film about how to make keris in this village. Hmmm....?

hi kino, here some more pics about result of what they produce in this village.

TERIMAKASIH.
Brekele.

[David]

From this last group of photos it would seem that this Madura village is focussing on producing Bali style keris. :)
And i would have to see a closer picture, but you may have just solved the origin of this hilt of mine:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5849
Your second grouping, 4th from the left, looks like a dead ringer. :)

[brekele]

[QUOTE=David]From this last group of photos it would seem that this Madura village is focussing on producing Bali style keris. :)


hhmm.....just have other opinion, it seem before that this Aeng Tong Tong village is focussing on producing all style of kerises from many region, with diffrent kind of style of dapur,pamor,etc. Even new sword,parang,klewang also from diffrent region in Indonesia complete with nice pamor, hhhmmm......just wondering how long does it takes to make all of that.

[Marcokeris]

Thanks Brekele for your pics. All kerises seem to have a beautiful pamor.
Is nice to see that also today there are many good keris makers.
Are modern kerises made in the same way of the past time?
When a keris maker became an Empu? For his ability, for his charisma, for his relatives, for his forefathers, ......?

[tunggulametung]

From this last group of photos it would seem that this Madura village is focussing on producing Bali style keris. :)
And i would have to see a closer picture, but you may have just solved the origin of this hilt of mine:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5849
Your second grouping, 4th from the left, looks like a dead ringer. :)They can made any style David, as long as any demand.

I probably inexperience with Balinese keris, but to me your hilt doesn't has a Balinese soul, and I believe also that it is contemporary and recent one, I'm sorry.

[David]

I probably inexperience with Balinese keris, but to me your hilt doesn't has a Balinese soul, and I believe also that it is contemporary and recent one, I'm sorry.
hmmm....i am not sure what you are sorry about exactly. I was fairly sure when i bought this this hilt that it wasn't any more than 20 years old if that. As for the origins of it's soul, well, i bought it because it appealed to me and was very reasonably priced, not for it's origin. As i observed from looking at the keris posted in this thread, it would appear that it's origins may very well be with this particular Maduran village of Aeng Tong Tong. So i don't have any regrets nor did i have great expectations. :)

[tunggulametung]

Oh, now I'm sorry since I misunderstand your post then :D.

In that case, its a congratulations since you may just found its original home ;) :).

[brekele]

Are modern kerises made in the same way of the past time?
When a keris maker became an Empu?

Hi Marco, I think ... yes they stil make keris in same way like in the past time (stil traditional way) . They stil use PARON and PERAPEN (traditional burning ? ).

In my opinion, keris maker will became empu if he know/understand about history,philosophy and totality about keris culture. It is not just to know how to make keris.

[A. G. Maisey]

Whenever we think of keris that are made in Madura, we think of Aeng Tong Tong. Great name. Who could forget it? Interesting place too. I remember on one visit there in about 1990 I was offered an ingot of platinum with a London bullion dealer's stamp on it. Bit outside the budget it was. Anyway, Aeng Tong Tong may be the most well known of villages involved in the Madura keris trade, but its not the only one. I do not know the present situation right at this moment, but up until a few years ago there were three villages involved in keris work, as well as a group of craftsmen who mainly worked under contract or as employees of businessmen in Suminep.

The actual blade forge work was mostly done in Lenteng Barat, the carving and blade bench work was done in Aeng Tong Tong, and the kinatah work was done in Palongan. Aeng Tong Tong was, and I guess still is the center of the operation, and the salesmen who act as the link between artisans and the market mostly seem to come from there, although they may live most of the time somewhere else.From what I could find out, very, very little of the making of wrongkos and handles went on in any of these three villages. All that dress work seemed to be in the hands of carvers centered on the main city of Sumenep, whether they were self employed , or working for businessmen, these were the people you needed to see to talk about dress.

Although it is true that keris out of the Suminep area ---the three villages involved are just a few kilometers out of Suminep--- are made in all possible styles, the only two styles that are true to original style and form are Madura and Jawa.Going back to the 1980's, they didn't even get the Jawa form quite right, that has only happened comparatively recently.The other production is really not much above souvenir quality. You don't need to be any sort of expert to see this, all you need is to have seen and handled a few genuine Bugis, Bali, and Peninsula blades.The wrongkos and hilts for areas other than Madura are not convincing in even the smallest degree, they are often very well carved, and quite artistic, but they are deficient in the detail and "feel" that is a part of the hilts and scabbards that originate from these other areas. This is understandable, as it is well known that a Central Javanese tukang jejeran who works in the Surakarta style, cannot really get even a Jogja ukiran quite right, and of course the reverse applies for a Jogja tukang jejeran.How can we expect a general carver, no matter how talented he may be, to produce hilts of various styles from various areas, and to produce them accurately and correctly?