Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 27th April 2010, 04:00 AM

I thank you for these photos Pak Ria.

All I can say is that both your chatoyant yellow wood, and the chatoyant yellow wood in the other photograph have the precise appearance of akasia.

If you tell me that you have been told by the tukang wrongko that it is kemuning, I believe you.

The only kemuning that I have seen, and that I know was kemuning, has been in old Peninsula and Bugis wrongkos. It has been hard, and the chatoyant grain has had the nature of a sunburst, rather than the consistent fiddleback grain that I can see in the other wrongko and in your scabbard. I have never seen a kemuning wrongko with this fiddleback grain, but I have seen Javanese hilts with a fiddleback grain.

On the other hand, I have seen a lot of wrongkos made from akasia that do have the consistent fiddleback grain that is shown in your scabbard and in the other wrongko.

We're working with photos here, not the real thing, but based upon what I can see in the photos I would without hesitation say that I'm looking at akasia, simply because I have never seen any verifiable kemuning that looks anything like this, but I have seen a great deal of akasia that looks precisely like it.

I have also seen other woods that are close to kemuning in colour, and that have a fiddleback grain, and that have been used in wrongkos, such as paumarfin--- a South American wood that a dealer in Jawa imported a very large quantity of from Sth America about 30 years ago.

But if you tell me that your scabbard is kemuning, I believe you; its just that this is the only piece of kemuning that I've ever seen that looks like this --- except for the wrongko in the previous linked site.

One of the facts of life is that akasia is a wood that has only begun to be used in the recent past. It has no history, and no esoterica attached to it. In fact, although it is sourced from Indonesian trees, I'm not even certain that it is an Indonesian idigenous wood. Its always easier to sell something if that something can be linked to a little bit of tradition. Akasia has no tradition.

EDIT

Above I said

"I have never seen a kemuning wrongko with this fiddleback grain"

This is possibly an incorrect statement.

What is perhaps more correct is:-

I have never seen wood in a wrongko atasan with a fiddleback grain that I knew was definitely kemuning

27th April 2010, 04:00 AM	#32
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	I thank you for these photos Pak Ria. All I can say is that both your chatoyant yellow wood, and the chatoyant yellow wood in the other photograph have the precise appearance of akasia. If you tell me that you have been told by the tukang wrongko that it is kemuning, I believe you. The only kemuning that I have seen, and that I know was kemuning, has been in old Peninsula and Bugis wrongkos. It has been hard, and the chatoyant grain has had the nature of a sunburst, rather than the consistent fiddleback grain that I can see in the other wrongko and in your scabbard. I have never seen a kemuning wrongko with this fiddleback grain, but I have seen Javanese hilts with a fiddleback grain. On the other hand, I have seen a lot of wrongkos made from akasia that do have the consistent fiddleback grain that is shown in your scabbard and in the other wrongko. We're working with photos here, not the real thing, but based upon what I can see in the photos I would without hesitation say that I'm looking at akasia, simply because I have never seen any verifiable kemuning that looks anything like this, but I have seen a great deal of akasia that looks precisely like it. I have also seen other woods that are close to kemuning in colour, and that have a fiddleback grain, and that have been used in wrongkos, such as paumarfin--- a South American wood that a dealer in Jawa imported a very large quantity of from Sth America about 30 years ago. But if you tell me that your scabbard is kemuning, I believe you; its just that this is the only piece of kemuning that I've ever seen that looks like this --- except for the wrongko in the previous linked site. One of the facts of life is that akasia is a wood that has only begun to be used in the recent past. It has no history, and no esoterica attached to it. In fact, although it is sourced from Indonesian trees, I'm not even certain that it is an Indonesian idigenous wood. Its always easier to sell something if that something can be linked to a little bit of tradition. Akasia has no tradition. EDIT Above I said "I have never seen a kemuning wrongko with this fiddleback grain" This is possibly an incorrect statement. What is perhaps more correct is:- I have never seen wood in a wrongko atasan with a fiddleback grain that I knew was definitely kemuning Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 27th April 2010 at 11:12 PM.