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Old 13th June 2018, 06:36 PM   #16
Bjorn
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 188
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David
While this may or may not be the intention of the maker it is still a mythological creature which is outside the sphere of Javanese iconography, so still a fantasy piece if you will.
I agree with you to a certain point, David. While the origin of the kilin lies outside of Java, it is a valid cultural symbol for the ethnic Chinese who settled in Indonesia in ages past and their totok and peranakan descendants. So while it is not Javanese iconography pur sang, it is used in Indonesia by Indonesian nationals.

In batik, the qilin is one of the motifs encountered in pieces that are aimed, or created by, ethnic Chinese or peranakan.
Unlike the art of batik, in keris, the qilin hasn't seen use as a traditional motif, as far as I know. Nevertheless, we are looking at a keris kemardikan here, which offers creators the freedom to employ fantasy designs, but also to employ designs that have, and are, used in Indonesia outside of the sphere of keris.
In this regard, I agree that the qilin motif is not a traditional keris design, but I would not go as far as to call it a fantasy design when applied to a keris kemardikan.
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