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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
Yes, there is an Empu Jiwo Diharjo (old spelling:- Djiwo Dihardjo) who lives in Banyu Sumurub near Imogiri. He was made Empu Sarjono Supo by Sultan HB IX (alm.), so he is a genuine empu.
I've never seen his work and have never heard if his work is good, bad or indifferent, but he is supposedly descended from a line of empus. He's probably much better known in Jogja than anywhere else. I think he'd probably be pretty elderly now.
On meteorite, in a traditional Javanese forge it is pretty difficult to weld meteoritic material, so what you do is sandwich it in between a couple of bits of iron and weld this sandwich, then you can do the washing necessary to get rid of the impurities. No reason at all to not believe that it can be done. Any halfway competent smith can weld meteoritic material this way.
As to verification of meteoritic material in a blade, David is right:- the only way to positively know is if you saw it being welded, however, if you have a Surakarta keris that is likely to be the work of a karaton empu of the late 19th century, and the pamor is the right colour and has a prickly feel, then it is highly probable you are looking at meteoritic pamor. I have one keris blade and one tombak that have a high probability of containing meteoritic pamor, and I have a current era keris that definitely does contain meteoritic pamor.
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Thanks for confirming Empu Jiwo.
I've sent him 50% down payment also let him know my birthdate(?)
He said it takes at least 6 months. There goes my Christmas present, I guess it really is too much to ask for a Keris from Santa..
Now, he also said that he does 'tirakat' during production. I can't fathom myself a single person, moreover an elderly, doing all the work by himself.
An Empu has got to have some helpers, right? If so, do they practice 'tirakat' as well?