Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 25th March 2016, 12:06 AM

This comment relates only to pamor

Giovanni, you have expressed this opinion:-

"I personally believe that the pamor is more frequently found on recent made blades,probably to increase the appeal"

One of the attributes of the keris is that it is a work of art. This applies most especially to the Javanese keris. Many people in the Javanese art community hold the opinion that the keris is the highest expression of Javanese plastic art.

So, in respect of keris in the current era, the opinion you have expressed is a valid one, very much so when we consider the extremely complex examples of pattern welding that can be found in many current era keris. The very finest pamor motifs that have ever been produced are being produced right now. Going several hundred years into the past, not even a ruler would have had the opportunity to own a keris with a complex pamor that equalled what we can obtain today.

However, pamor itself has existed in the keris since at least the Late Eastern Javanese Period, say from at least the time of Majapahit.
It very probably developed from the necessity to extend imported high quality ferric material with locally produced lower quality ferric material, by welding the two different materials together in the forge.

Following the rise of Islam in Jawa there was an influx of people from the Middle East, and especially from India, and amongst these people there were numbers of metal workers, who brought their forge skills with them. During this period of Jawa's development we saw the development of complex pamor motifs, that were accompanied by their own talismanic values.

In the Ying Yai Sheng Lan (1416) we find this:-

"--- The men have a pu-lak stuck in their girdle, everybody carrying such a weapon, from the child of three years up to the oldest man; these daggers have very thin stripes and whitish flowers and are made of the very best steel, the handle is of
gold, rhinoceros horn or ivory, cut into the shape of human or devils faces and finished very carefully.---"

Scholars have interpreted this as evidence of the existence of pamor, and of keris, from at least the early 15th. century.

So --- pamor in keris has been around for quite a while.

25th March 2016, 12:06 AM	#10
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,704	This comment relates only to pamor Giovanni, you have expressed this opinion:- "I personally believe that the pamor is more frequently found on recent made blades,probably to increase the appeal" One of the attributes of the keris is that it is a work of art. This applies most especially to the Javanese keris. Many people in the Javanese art community hold the opinion that the keris is the highest expression of Javanese plastic art. So, in respect of keris in the current era, the opinion you have expressed is a valid one, very much so when we consider the extremely complex examples of pattern welding that can be found in many current era keris. The very finest pamor motifs that have ever been produced are being produced right now. Going several hundred years into the past, not even a ruler would have had the opportunity to own a keris with a complex pamor that equalled what we can obtain today. However, pamor itself has existed in the keris since at least the Late Eastern Javanese Period, say from at least the time of Majapahit. It very probably developed from the necessity to extend imported high quality ferric material with locally produced lower quality ferric material, by welding the two different materials together in the forge. Following the rise of Islam in Jawa there was an influx of people from the Middle East, and especially from India, and amongst these people there were numbers of metal workers, who brought their forge skills with them. During this period of Jawa's development we saw the development of complex pamor motifs, that were accompanied by their own talismanic values. In the Ying Yai Sheng Lan (1416) we find this:- "--- The men have a pu-lak stuck in their girdle, everybody carrying such a weapon, from the child of three years up to the oldest man; these daggers have very thin stripes and whitish flowers and are made of the very best steel, the handle is of gold, rhinoceros horn or ivory, cut into the shape of human or devils faces and finished very carefully.---" Scholars have interpreted this as evidence of the existence of pamor, and of keris, from at least the early 15th. century. So --- pamor in keris has been around for quite a while.