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Old 5th November 2014, 04:32 AM   #14
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,675
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Oh dear me Gustav.

Am I being a little too subjective?

Please forgive me. I guess I've spent to much time in Jawa and around people from that place, and sometimes what I say depends on what side of the bed I get out of.

However, maybe you have enough objectivity for the both of us, so yes, of course both these keris are ordinary, and both are old, and both are nice.

But Scott did not ask for a comparison his keris with any other keris, and it is very obvious from his post that he has maybe never seen any keris other than this one, not only that, but it was given to him by his dad.

So what is my preferred response to his question?

What should my evaluation be?

If I were responding to somebody with a reasonable degree of experience my response would be calculated to encourage that person to try to aim just a little bit higher with his next acquisition.

However, in responding to a newcomer to keris, especially one who has asked for some information on a gift from his father, my response will be calculated to encourage him, and to endorse the integrity of the item presented.

It would be very nice if Scott were to become a member of our small community and develop an interest in keris, such a thing would be extremely unlikely to occur were we to denigrate a gift from his father, especially a gift about which many good things can be said.

Gustav, any teacher who is worth his salt will only ever provide information at the level that the student is ready, and able, to assimilate.
The student's level of existing knowledge is indicated by his questions.

So, are both blades dhapur sempana?

Well, maybe, maybe not.

According to the Surakarta Pakem, sempana has lambe gajah and no greneng

Scott's blade has no lambe gajah and it does have greneng; Scott's keris does have a Jalen, but again dhapur sempana does not have a Jalen.

The other keris (#2) does have a lambe gajah --- and a jalen, but the gonjo, which seems to be a replacement, has had some rather crude notches filed into it which I guess are supposed to pass for greneng, so as it stands, #2 can't qualify is sempana either.

But what I've used here are the indicators that apply to sempana according a Javanese pakem.

I know of no Balinese pakem, but Djelenga does list a dhapur (angun-angunan) for a dhapur that he calls "sempana sanga" (sanga = 9), in other words a 9 luk sempana, but there is a bit of a problem in using Djelenga's indicators, because he does not differentiate between what the Javanese refer to "lambe gajah " and "Jalen", he dumps them both into the same basket:- do both need to exist to be a lambe gajah, or is one sufficient? Do both have the same value, or can one exist alone and still be a lambe gajah, if so, which one --- or either one?

There is a further problem. Djelenga seems to consider that ripandan is the same as greneng (jambul, raeng), but in Javanese terminology a ripandan is only a part of the greneng, so in Djelenga's eyes, is it sufficient for only a ripandan to exist for a keris to have greneng, or is the Balinese concept of raeng and jambul different to the Javanese concept of greneng, or ripandan?

Frankly, I don't know, and I've never been able to find anybody in Bali who had old, original keris knowledge from several generations ago, anybody I've spoken with in Bali seems to lift and adapt their keris knowledge from a Javanese base. Even the gentleman who produced the text for Mr. Neka's book was Javanese, and a product of the Surakarta ISI (Institute Seni Indonesia), and if we turn to "Keris Bali Bersejarah" we can form a different opinion again. Personally I prefer Djelenga, as for me the text in Mr. Neka's book is somewhat open to question.

Are flat luk usual for dhapur sempana?

I rather think not, the form of luk depends upon the period during which the blade was made, not upon the dhapur.

So Gustav, when we try to apply dhapur to a Balinese keris, we're up the creek without a paddle. This is the reason I personally prefer not to try to get too specific with names of dhapur, pamor, or ricikan outside of Jawa. In fact, it is perhaps wise not to get too involved in trying to tie dhapurs onto any blade, except those made by Kraton Surakarta mpus after about 1900. One tiny variation in ricikan from a pakem disallows the affixation of any dhapur, and the keris automatically becomes "diluar pakem". It’s a bit like the girl who forgot when to say "STOP":- you can't be a little bit pregnant, you either are or you are not. A keris has a defined dhapur, or it does not.

In any case, setting aside this foray into esoterica which I am sure is of no interest at all to Scott, I believe we are in agreement that this is a nice (subjective judgement), old (objective judgement), ordinary (supportable opinion), Balinese (demonstrable fact) Keris, that Scott can be very pleased to call his own. Most definitely not an item made for a traveller, and probably originally made for a person of restricted means. This does not necessarily imply a caste status, as some Sudra are quite wealthy, and some of the higher caste people can be quite poor.

Jean, you seem to have some doubts as to whether this keris is of Bali origin or not. I have no such doubts.
Big, fine, artistic Balinese keris belong to the fairly recent past, my guess is that most are probably 19th century. Only a couple of keris in the Neka musium are old keris, and those old keris are artistically pretty ordinary, the big, fine kerises that constitute 99% of the display are current era keris. mostly with the name of the maker shown.

Big premium quality Bali keris were expensive to make, and not only that, in times past only somebody of high rank would wear these premium keris, somebody of lower rank, or with less wealth would use what he could afford. My oldest Balinese keris, which is probably 16th century, is in fact quite small. Often we will find blades of fairly small size in great big modern (say, 1920-to present) dress. Why? Hierarchical distinctions have eroded in some areas of Balinese life, and if new dress is made, it is mostly made big enough to allow the formal dress style with the keris at the back. In fact, in everyday situations at the present time, a lot of Balinese men do not own a keris, and when they need one for some official occasion they borrow one from their Banjar, these keris are nearly always Javanese keris, which are worn tucked into the top of the sarung, or into the belt, or sash, if one is worn.

Scott, I'm with Rick on the oil. Your blade is in pretty good condition anyway, and oiling is good fast maintenance, however, I would suggest that you would be ensuring the continued preservation of this keris if you were to work over the surface with a strong light source, a 2X or 3x loupe, and a good pick, maybe a needle or a saddler's awl, and over a period of time pick all the rust out of the pits. I've spent several months on a no more than one hour a night basis doing jobs like this.

Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 5th November 2014 at 05:15 AM. Reason: clarification
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