Central Javanese keris for comment

A. G. Maisey · 28th May 2023, 10:33 PM

This is an older keris in good condition, it needs a serious appraisal.

Serious appraisals from photos are not something that I'm much good at, but I'll give it a shot.

The blade age is probably early 20th century, late 19th century.

It has been made in Central Jawa, but does not have indicators that suggest high level workmanship, the workmanship is heavy and lacks refinement, the rondha are neither Surakarta or Ngayogyakarta, the forge work appears to be better than adequate.

Based upon what I believe I can see in the photos, the work appears to be second or third level down from the quality expected from a kraton based mpu, the heavy ada-ada tends toward what we might think of as Kajoran, or at least something from the Klaten area, but it is not old enough for Koripan nor for Kajoran, and it lacks the features we expect in Kajoran.

Godean is not able to be considered because of the lack of high curvature in the gonjo and absence of other Mataram-like indicators. It is not Matesih.

The tikel alis puts it firmly into a more recent period of time.

I would very much like to see the top of the gonjo, no hilt, photo taken straight down onto the tip of the pesi.

At the moment I think I would need to place its geographic point of origin as simply "Jawa Tengah".

The wrongko appears to be terusan, ie, carved as a single entity, atasan & gandar from the same material & without a joint. I cannot comment on quality from these photos, maybe not from any photos.

The hilt appears to be adequate, but again it is impossible to comment on quality from photos.

In my opinion, this is a very nice addition to any serious collection.

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28th May 2023, 10:33 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,010	This is an older keris in good condition, it needs a serious appraisal. Serious appraisals from photos are not something that I'm much good at, but I'll give it a shot. The blade age is probably early 20th century, late 19th century. It has been made in Central Jawa, but does not have indicators that suggest high level workmanship, the workmanship is heavy and lacks refinement, the rondha are neither Surakarta or Ngayogyakarta, the forge work appears to be better than adequate. Based upon what I believe I can see in the photos, the work appears to be second or third level down from the quality expected from a kraton based mpu, the heavy ada-ada tends toward what we might think of as Kajoran, or at least something from the Klaten area, but it is not old enough for Koripan nor for Kajoran, and it lacks the features we expect in Kajoran. Godean is not able to be considered because of the lack of high curvature in the gonjo and absence of other Mataram-like indicators. It is not Matesih. The tikel alis puts it firmly into a more recent period of time. I would very much like to see the top of the gonjo, no hilt, photo taken straight down onto the tip of the pesi. At the moment I think I would need to place its geographic point of origin as simply "Jawa Tengah". The wrongko appears to be terusan, ie, carved as a single entity, atasan & gandar from the same material & without a joint. I cannot comment on quality from these photos, maybe not from any photos. The hilt appears to be adequate, but again it is impossible to comment on quality from photos. In my opinion, this is a very nice addition to any serious collection.