wood ?
 

Hello,

Hope there are some wood experts here :-)

I have a keris but i would like to know the name of the wood used for the wranka , and the name of the wood that is used to make the ukiran the weight of the ukiran is more than what you feel more often .

Another quistion , on the pendok there is a kind of brownish collor , is this just
oxidation or could it be a kind of lacker or something .
never see it before on koper pendok.its difficult to see on the photo,s .

regards,

danny

Hi Danny,

the wrongko could be kayu timoho, the hilt could be from kayu trembalo. The brownish coat on the pendok blewah seems to be just oxidation.

Detlef

The hilt wood seems to be kemuning to me, but it is of course just a guess. A nice hilt.

Yes, the pendok Blewah does seem to have a lacquer or some kind of Lac finish .
Can you remove the pendok from the gandar without damaging anything ?

If so, clean with pure alcohol, or acetone and polish .

Maybe there's plate or German Silver under that crust . :)

Hello Danny,

So that is where it went that fast :)
Too bad, i was trying to get it too.

I think the pendok has lacquer on it.
Be careful with the tortoise / turtle strip under the pendok.
it will be thin and fragile.
(I assume it is turtle, right?)

Very nice catch.

Best regards,
Willem

IMO the hit is Kemuning, the gayaman could be timoho, the pendok has no lacker but oxidation, i don't see turtle in the middle ... seems timoho wood again
Good Sarong and hit:)

Hi Danny,
:confused:
Help me out. What is the strip in the middle of the pendok ?
is it wood ? :confused:

The hilt material could be also kemuning, we have had a discussion about different woods but I can't find it anymore.
The small strip in the middle of the pendok seems to my eyes from wood, I have had a keris with the same strip. But Danny will tell us what it is.

Kemuning would be the nearest choice for a hilt, the structure of the wood seems to be very tight: it shows a good age, but the details are still not bad in shape.

Hi Everyboby,

Thanks for the replay,s on the wood!
I did clean the hilt a little better and it has a nice old patin.

About the strip , it,s from wood , i thougt it was turtle when i saw it for sale.. but the wood looks nice also.

About the pendok, i think it might be oxadation after all, i did try to clean it with alcohol but it stays the same , so i,m not sure what to do , clean it of or leave it like this , if it is kind of polish/lacker i prefer to let it on .
But i.m not sure , please advice ??

Sorry Willem :)

Regards,

Danny

Mine opinion about the wood used for the wranka is:

SPALTED TAMARIND - (Tamarindus indica) Also called Tamarin.
(text from the net)
Spalted Tamarind is a beautiful wood from Laos, Southeast Asia.
Much of this wood comes from logs that were either found on the forest floor or were cut and then allowed to spalt in the very damp warm conditions of the jungle. The colors and various line patterns are truly unique from one piece to another. Heartwood has a spectacular back ground colors of ivory, yellow, and black lines, which gives this such unpredictable landscape effect.

My guess about the pendok discoloration is that he had once been exposed by any acid / salty influence, that gives copper a brownish color.
But it may also be that this chemical is produced and then coated. :shrug:
I would leave it as is but that's my opinion, and if you do not like it then you polish.

Hi Danny,

Are those light spots on the pendok scratches ?
In case they are scratches, I would clean the pendok with copper polish.

It is nice if a keris shows some age, but and oxidised and scratched pendok is not very nice in my opinion.
I have a keris silver pendok and one with a gold plated pendok.
Both will turn black in time, so from time time to time I do clean them a bit.
No abrassives neede for that by the way. just a cotton cloth.

Best regards,
Willem

I am with Willem, I think what we see are scratches and in this case I would prefer to clean the pendok. BTW, I have had pendoks so heavy oxidized that I have to clean them with metal polish many times until they look good again. I will look for examples and will take some pics.

I am not going to give an opinion on the wood in either the hilt or the wrongko, because working from a photograph it is absolutely impossible for me to perform the examination needed to come to a supportable opinion.

However, in respect of the pendok. If this keris were to be cleaned up for sale or use in Jawa, the pendok would be removed and soaked for a few hours in household vinegar. This would remove most of the tarnish. It would then be polished with a metal polish.

When I need to polish an old pendok I use 0000 steel wool and a good quality German metal polish that is used for mag wheels and chrome work on cars, then finish by buffing with a soft cloth.

You have to look closely to the pendok. From the picture it is hard to see, but i think it is occidation. In that case follow Alan's advise.

Pendoks wich were painted or laquered where connected by the color to a rank or status. Brown was a color for a rank. But the brown was darkbrown. Don't know at the moment what color belonged to wich rank. Red was for royal. But the paint or laquer was shiny. I cann't see that on your pictures.

This is not a kemalo pendok.

Colour code for Surakarta Karaton kemalo is:-


Red --- the royal family, or a bupati

Green --- penewu

Dark Grey --- lurah

Black --- jajar

Black (alternate) --- all ranks, and members of the public, for a funeral



The colour code for sunggingan wrongko is different, and refers to the base colour only:-


White or yellow --- bupati

Gold --- pangeran

Sea blue --- penewu

Light green --- mentri.

The colour code is permitted, but not enforced.


The canthangbalung can wear any colour, but they must wear it with jejeran rojomolo.

Everybody ,

Thanks for the opinions..

I, wil clean the pendok .

Regards,

Danny

clean.
 

hi Guys ,

just to share my keris with the cleaned pendok.

Alan, sorry, please can you explain penewu, mentri, lurah, jajar, pangeran and canthangbalung? Or try to give a translation? I only know the word bupati. Thank's in advance,

Detlef

Hi Danny,

looks much better! :)

Alan, sorry, please can you explain penewu, mentri, lurah, jajar, pangeran and canthangbalung? Or try to give a translation? I only know the word bupati. Thank's in advance,


Penewu:- supposedly an official in command of a thousand people, in reality a middle ranked kraton official

Lurah:- a chief or village head

Jajar:- lowest rank in court

Mentri:- (mantri) middle ranked kraton official

Pangeran:- prince, son of the ruler

Bupati:- senior administrative officer in a regency.


Canthangbalung:- this is very difficult; the simple explanation is that the canthangbalung are semi-humorous clown guards who take part in the Garebeg Mulud procession at the Surakarta Karaton. To really understand who and what they are is far beyond the scope of this post, or indeed of this forum.

Under the old organization of a Karaton, some of the above could be designated as either "inner" officials. Or "outside" officials. Thus, for example, a bupati might be an "inside bupati", where he would have the rank and prerogatives of a bupati, but he would not have the duties of administering a regency.

The same holds true today:- there are bupatis and lurahs and mantris who are Indonesian government officials, but there are also bupatis and lurahs and mantris who are ranked in the Karaton hierarchy and hold no position outside the Karaton.

Thank you very much!