Nice real old one from Bali
 

?????

Ummmm..........don't think the link works. :confused:

http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/in...al=en&p=search


put in indonesia by search and then Bali


Ben

Sorry Ben, this isn't working for me either. Can you provide a direct link? :shrug:

A direct link isn't possible. I copied the text and picked up the pictures.
I hope I don't brake any rules. If it turned out I did, moderators, please, do your job.

Kris
E 793

Object type: Other
Materials: Gold, rubies, diamonds, iron, nickle, wood
Measurements: Thickness: 5 cm.
Creator name: unknown
Where was it made: Indonesia; Bali
Time period: 19th Century
Function: Regalia. This State Kris was used in ceremonies to
ward off evil through the raksasa (giants) images on
the kris.
Acquisition: The kris came from Puri Klungkung, Bali. It was taken during a military expedition by the Colonial Government against the Klungkung Kingdom in 1908. The army took the regalia from the King and handed it to the government in Batavia. It was the rule that part of the booty from military expeditions would be given to the National Museum in Batavia and part of it was to be shipped to the Netherlands.
Owner: Museum Nasional

Why is this a masterpiece
The kris was not shipped to the Netherlands but instead remained in Indonesia. This gives it a specific historic value for the museum.

History of the object
The kris was part of the regalia of the Kingdom of Klungkung in Bali. It shows rakasa (giants) images, which is typically Balinese.

Is that a raksasa or is it Bayu?
Pretty dress with some nice stones. Too bad the pendok was damaged. Looks like nice gold work. It is a shame they don't show us the blade though. :(

David,

I think the hilt is Bayu. The text is from the museum itself and it says that the keris has pictures of raksasa on it. Probably in gold.

Indeed a shame they didn't make a picture of the blade which is actually the most interesting part of the piece.

I believe that there is only one keris dressed I this manner in existence. It has been in the museum in Jakarta for years. It had been displayed as damaged until it was borrowed by Helen Jessup for a United Stated tour in 1990. It was repaired specifically for this tour. I believe that the photos in the referenced link show the back side of the dress.

Here is a photo of the piece as it was displayed. You can make out the Balinese Kala that is on the front.





There is a beautiful picture of the repaired piece on page 162 of Helen Jessup’s “Court Arts of Indonesia” which was published by the Asia Society Galleries, New York as a catalogue of the exhibition.

Of further interest there is a picture of a fine old painted Balinese sheath further along in the referenced link. These are possibly more rare than the golden covered pieces.

I agree that this is Battara ( :D ) Bayu. I have seen this documented in several books in the past. A real nice piece. Yes, shame I too have never seen the blade. Still thanks for the pictures.

Thanks Mick. I knew i had seen this keris before. The picture in Jessup's book (like all the pics there) is indeed beautifully done and really shows just how exquisite this dress is. Unfortunately there is still no photo of the blade. :shrug:

Here are a few pics of another gold Bali handle.

http://kerisattosanaji.com/Baligoldhandle.html

G'Day Alan

Wow!!! that is exquisite ! THe stones look of a particulary high quality based on my impression of their translucency? Please don't tell me they are pastes!!

Can you give us some details on the stones, the large light blue one looks like topaz, I assume that some of the others are lower grade (jewellery wise) sapphires and rubys??

Forgive my ignorance , but are the processes for gilding plateing of the gold?

Cheers mate

Jason

G'day Jason, the stones are rubies, diamonds, black stars, and something else I'm not sure of.

This handle is gold, as in 22ct., not gilded or gold plated.

Probably dates from the early 20th century or late 19th century. Was in the possession of the Raja of Badung who passed away in the late 1980's.

blooody hell!

must weigh a fair bit.

Magnificent piece, thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Jason

Jason, this sort of work, both in gold and in silver, is not cast, it is fabricated, then it is filled with wax and embossed with hammer and punches, when finished the wax is boiled out, and it is filled with resin.

Yes, it is fairly heavy, but the gold is probably no more than an eighth of an inch thick at its thickest part.

Don't thank only me, but thank the owner as well. I have his permission to show this piece.

Ahhh, me understand now.

By the way, what are the owners daily travelling movements? :D

Cheers

Jason

PS. You might recall I mentioned about my Fiance and our trip in Bali.

Well, we are expecting our first child late December!!!!!

Dear Alan
could you explain the term 'black stars' please. Do you mean a dark sapphire or ruby with a star inclusion which show up when cabachon cut or is it something different?
cheers
DrD

David, if it is the "black star" that i am familar with it would be diopside, a fairly inexpensive, though pretty, stone.

Yeah, that's the stuff.

In fact, none of the stones in this handle are particularly valuable, there is a fair bit of gold in the handle, but the thing that sets it apart from other Balinese gold handles is the standard of workmanship:- three different authorities in this field of art have appraised it as the finest work in any gold Balinese handle that they have seen; I myself have never seen any better work. I believe it is probably one of the finest, if not the finest, Balinese keris hilt in existence.

thank you Alan for the explaination of the wax process involved and the pictures.

Yes, i think i must agree. Of course i have never had the pleasure of examining anything of this quality in person as i am sure you have Alan. But if you look at the photo in Jessup's book the quality really shines through. If anyone doubts this i really recommend you find this book. Unfortunately the photos in this thread do not do it any justice.

Yeah, the one shown in Jessup undoubtedly has much more value in the stones, and the workmanship in the handle (ie, ignoring the wrongko) is also excellent. I think you'd probably need the two handles, side by side, in the hand to make a judgement on which one has the superior workmanship. I know that I have never seen a handle of this type that is of as good quality workmanship as the one I posted pics of, and apparently neither had the three art authorities who appraised it. Actually, when you get into this area of quality, there are very few pieces with which to make comparison.

Sorry Alan, my bad....i thought you were referring to the one in Jessup that started this thread. I now realize that you meant the example that you linked to. Yeah, it would be a tough call to decide which one of these 2 hilts was actually the better one. I certainly couldn't choose based on the pictures alone. :)

David, whenever we try to evaluate any really superior art work we are faced with this problem. It is not just the quality of the work, or the intrinsic value of the components, it is a certain intangible that only becomes apparent when we are actually face to face with the work in question.

Most often we don't even understand why one piece has a higher impact than the other.

So at this level it does not become just a matter of deciding which expression of art is superior to the other in terms of workmanship, technical excellence and intrinsic value, it becomes a matter of trying to understand which piece of art will have the deepest effect on the greatest number of people. Which piece will worm its way into the sub-conscious and strike a chord.

Seldom does the power and essence of great art make itself felt through a photograph.

Alan from your picture the handle seems to me a pretty gold handle with a very common subject with a face and body not so expressive (...of course from pictures). About the work's precision the pictures are not so accurate to understand the quality of work.
In my opinion is not gold or "lost wax" to determinate the "soul" of an object but it is the inner power that the artist is able to input in his work.
Of course is better to see a nice hilt made by uli emas, rhino horn, uli hijau, uli putith, amber, ecc... ecc...) than common material.

For example this my Rawana's brother Bali hit is made by a common poor material (like brass) with real poor stones (amethysts, onyx, moon and star stones) but, in my opinion, it (he) has a great expressive force not only in the face but also in the muscles of body.

Marco, I beg your forgiveness, but I am afraid I am unable to understand exactly what you mean in your post commenting on the relative artistic qualities of the handle of which you have provided a photo, and the gold handle of which I posted some pictures.

I do not understand:- "--- uli emas, -------------, uli hijau, uli putith, ---"

I do not understand your comment:- "---In my opinion is not gold or "lost wax" to determinate the "soul" of an object---".

I cannot understand your comparison of the handles made by court goldsmiths to the Raja of Klungkung, and the Raja of Badung, with the recently made handle of some other material that has been made for the popular market, and of which you have provided a photo.

I freely admit that I may be a little stupid in my lack of understanding, but I would truly appreciate it if you could expand your comments in order to assist my understanding of just what it is that you trying to say.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sorry Marco, i am afraid i share Alan's confusion. I am having a hard time putting your example in the same room as the other hilts being discussed here.
Here is another Bali gold hilt i find interesting from the Adrien Noe collection.

Goodness me.

That is seriously nice.

Here's a few more angles. :)

Here are a few more Bali handles.

Not in quite the same class as some of the others that have been presented, but nice handles, just the same.

http://kerisattosanaji.com/Baligoldhandle.html

David : Noe's hilt is wonderfull: a superb work.
Alan: uli emas, hijau .. are different kinds of coral (i hope that the dictions are proper). Now from the other picture the quality of hit's work seems better.

Thanks for your explanation Marco. "uli" is Balinese? So, this would be the same as "akar", or "root" ? So you are talking about the the talismanic coral roots that are used in Bali ? Is this correct?

Yes, I changed the original photos I had up. The original photos were scans of ten year old negatives, the new photos were done last weekend. There is no doubt that the work in this gold handle is superb. I have a collection of something over 1000 keris hilts, and I have seen and handled many more than this, and in my opinion this gold handle is the best I have ever personally handled, or seen. I am not including hilts of which I have seen photographs, as a photo can often fail to tell the whole story. Moreover, as I have already said, three other people who are regarded as authorities in Asian art, two of whom have an international reputation, have appraised this hilt as one of the finest in existence.If the quality is not obvious to you, then we must hold my inadequate skills with the camera at fault.

Hi Alan
can you give an explanation of the symbolism of the small face on the back of the head on this gold Bali handle. It looks a little like a monkey's features.
regards
DrD

I could, but I would prefer not to.

I do not know sufficient about the Balinese culture to be able to give a supportable interpretation of this feature in terms that would be comprehensible to us, and acceptable to the relevant culture at the time when this handle was made.

David, when we wish to involve ourselves in the interpretation of symbols that belong to a time and a culture other than our own, we are treading on very, very dangerous ground. To truly understand these things we need to be able to see them and understand them from the perspective of a Balinese royal personage of more than 100 years ago.To do other than this is simply to place a name-- which may or may not be correct in the relevant context --- on something which we have no hope of understanding. At best, this can cause us to appear naive.

Well, i think Alan's words are wise and i wouldn't dare to make an interpretation, but isn't the character Garuda?
Here's a nice ivory hilt. :)

Where are you sourcing these pretty pics from, David?

These were all part of a collection that was up for auction a while back.

Thanks.

David, if that is a weapon in his hand, I am thinking this is Ravana, the demon king in the Ramayana.