[A. G. Maisey]

In respect of names.

The names for keris that have the same characteristics can & do change from place to place, similarly, the names for the features themselves change from place to place.

If we are going to try to classify any keris in the language of its place of origin, then we do need to use the language of that place of origin, and the parameters for classification that apply in the place of origin, and at the specific time period that we might choose. If we do not do this, then we might just as well use English or any other language.

Amuk has mentioned a dhapur that he believes could be applied to this keris, but is that dhapur a Balinese designation? I rather doubt that it is.

Similarly, as David has pointed out, the term "sandang walikat" is Javanese and applies to the name of a scabbard type. In Bali "sandang walikat" is unknown, the equivalent scabbard style is the "Kajongan", however, the correct term in Bali for any keris worn at the back, and drawn from over the shoulder is "Nyungklit".

Balinese society is structured in a different fashion to Javanese society, and different paradigms apply.

The naming of keris dhapurs in Bali is much more relaxed than in Jawa, and nowhere near the same extent of dhapur names are on offer to be used. I have yet to find any authoritative source that lists dhapur names & characteristics for Balinese keris, as we do have for Javanese keris. In fact, I doubt that any over-arching pakem can be applied to Balinese keris, my doubts in this respect rest upon the nature of Balinese society prior to the turn of the 19th century.

With Javanese keris my personal preference is to use the Surakarta Karaton parameters, principally because my education has been mostly within this sphere, but also because it is, I believe, the last pakem issued under royal authority & at the end of the Colonial Era.

But there are a number of other Javanese pakems, and I guess that any one of these is acceptable to use provided that the source is cited.

The same situation does not apply in Bali. In fact, not even a similar situation applies in Bali. Much of the old keris knowledge was lost, gone & forgotten following the puputans.

Since about 1998, or around the time of the GFC, some culturally orientated people in Bali have been trying very hard to revitalise keris culture, but regrettably they have very little work with, other than present day perceptions, the opinions of some keris interested people from cultures other than Balinese, and more than a little bit of pure invention. Still, this is perhaps better than nothing, it is a new society in Bali now, if compared to what it was a hundred & more years ago, and the belief systems have changed to reflect that new society.

But all that aside, Jeff's keris is in Javanese terms a Tilam Upih with greneng & rondha nunut. Kai tells us it is a Javanese dhapur, it might be, it sure looks like a Javanese dhapur, but I do not know the name for this Javanese dhapur.

There are a few Javanese candidates, FX, Tilam Sari for one, but none of these candidates has full greneng & ron dha nunut.

But it is not a Javanese keris, it is Balinese, and as a Balinese keris it is not listed in the few references on Balinese keris that I currently have available.

The blade without pamor can have various explanations. In respect of Javanese keris my understanding is that such a blade might have been made for:-

1) use as a weapon

2) use as an item of dress, ie, purely to hold the dress together

3) because the person who ordered it could not afford pamor

4) because of some personal esoteric belief

all these reasons could just as easily be applied to any keris, but a keris without pamor is very unlikely to have been made as a family pusaka.

In any case, in my opinion this is very nice keris, the dress could perhaps do with a bit of a facelift, but this would very much depend upon the access to a m'ranggi with appropriate skills, not the easiest sort of person to find these days.