Two Tombak

[Pendita65]

I have for some time two Tombak in my collection and they are rather small.
Seethe pics I share with the tread. The one with the anthromorphic hilt looks like a sealion to me.
The other one I have no clue about it origin it might be Madura but also allmost everywhere I guess. Hope someone can shinesome light. I am also searching for a book about Indonesian Tombak.

Regards, Martin

[Albert]

I would call them 'lading terus'.
A hilted arrow or spear point to be used as a dagger.

[Pendita65]

Thanks Albert, for your reply, and sugestion.

Regards, Martin

[Pendita65]

Dear Mr. Maisey,


thank you for your reply on my tombak i guess you placed it by accident in the Keris part of the forum, while the tombak are in the ethnographic chapter of the forum. So i made a screenshot from your reaction and placed it here as i didn't knew how to move it.

Its interesting ro read as i only know that both tombak where brought from Indonesia after the Bersiap period 1945/46. I also googled the term Lading terus and saw a spear point dagger in a Malay collection but it didn't had the shoulder as one of the two has. This shoulder is similar that we see on Javanese Tombak too. As i have several in my collection only much larger.

the anthropomorfic hilt that looks like a seal or a dolphin could it been a keris ukiran? And the mendak looks a bit like Madura mendak. That's why i come to this question.

So there will always remain questions.

Regards, Martin

[A. G. Maisey]

So that's where it finished up.

I'm having a lot of problems with the Forum lately, that particular post involving grammar took me a multitude of attempts to get posted. I posted it --- correctly I believe --- then an error page popped up, when I checked back my post had disappeared & I got an old page, then I posted it again, checked, it was in the right place, now I'm seeing this thread without it, except for the copy.

I do not know if my difficulties are being experienced by anybody else, but for some time, I find that I need to try many times & often through the back door, to get into the Warung, & sometimes into the Ethno froum as well.

Anyway, what the whole thing boils down to is that names are only good when they are used in the right place.

Yes, on the waved tombak the mendak looks like Madura or North Coast Jawa, the scabbard on the other one looks like Madura or East Jawa, but I cannot name the blade origin.

I cannot comment on the figural hilt.

[Pendita65]

Yes i do understand what you mean with the forum and its functionality at certain times, we also have moments it's even impossible to enter the forum at all.


And yes it is a challange sometimes to use the right names.

Regards, Martin

[Pendita65]

Finally unboxing some boxes that where sealed last year before my move to Hoorn and I wanted to share some of my Tombak that I still need to find more info about.

the information i have is from the auction: Five tombaks :

Two Sultan Agung with Bulet, one Mataram Madura with Bonaspati bulet, one 900 year old Cacing Kanil-Jenggala and one Mataram Kartasura with pedaringan Hebak pamor.



And is there a book dedicated to Tombak of Indonesia?

Regards, Martin.

Ps. Share your thoughts please about these Tombak.

[A. G. Maisey]

Martin, I do not know of any publication that provides commentary on Indonesian tombak, however there are references to tombak scattered through a number of publications.

The book "Dhapur" published by Yayasan Damartaji is perhaps the only publication we have that can assist to a limited degree in the classification according to form (dhapur). This publication draws upon the Surakarta work of Sunaryo, who was an abdi dalem of the Surakarta Karaton, and who in turn drew upon the original work of KT Sastrodiningrat.

The word "bulet" in the descriptions that you have is incorrect.

"Bulet" is a dialectical corruption of "bulat", which in Malay -- & Bahasa Indonesia -- means "round", I guess that this is a reference to the small round fitting at the junction between blade & tang, the correct name for this in Javanese is "metuk", and it is a major identifier of tombak classification.

I do not want to deal one by one with the classifications that you have been given. Tombak are not at all easy to classify, & I could not genuinely support any opinion I might give of these tombak if I base that opinion on a photograph.

However I will make a couple of comments on what I believe I can see in the photos.

The tombak with the Bonaspati scabbard is probably Balinese.In Solo the scabbard of a tombak is usually referred to as its "tutup" = "cover" (also "tutupi"/"tutupe"), wrongko/warangka is also acceptable.

I believe there are several tombak that in the hand would be able to be classified as Mataram, one as perhaps Mataram Sultan Agung, one as perhaps Pajajaran, the supposedly 900 year old Jenggala one is a total impossibility, the tombak with pedaringan kebak pamor that is supposedly Surakarta does not seem to align with anything I understand about Surakarta tombak form, however, if I handled it I might change my mind.

All in all, a very nice little group of tombak.

Tombak are very much under valued by collectors outside of Javanese culture. They are tosan aji, they can be respected as highly as pusaka keris, even today they are still encountered in racks in some Javanese homes, something that seldom applies to keris, but is common with tombak.