Keris Bali

[Sajen]

Agree complete with David, this keris seems to be in all parts original. How fit the blade inside the sheath?

Regards,

Detlef

[Henk]

Great keris the second one. A beauty by its honest simplicity. Congrats on that one.
In this case less is certainly more.

[henri]

Thank you David , Sajen and Henk .

Sajen , the blade fit perfectly . The warangka has a nice polished finish but new gandar . Nobody is perfect !

[GIO]

The first keris reminds me one reproduced in Ghiringhelli's first book (page41).
The particular curls, however, match a practically straight blade, though somewhat bent on one side. Since, according to the Authors, dapur and ganja seem to be inter connected, this type of ganja should only match with a straight blade, and not with luks as it is the case.

[VANDOO]

HERE ARE PICTURES OF A BALI KERIS SIMULAR TO THE ONE IN THE FIRST PICTURES. IT IS MODERN AND DONE IN THE TYPICAL BALI STYLE. IT IS CERTIANLY ART BUT IS IT A KERIS?
IT HAS EXCELLENT WOOD CARVING AND METAL WORK AND SET WITH LOW QUALITY GEM STONES AND IS A BEAUTIFUL HIGH END ITEM. IF LOCAL PEOPLE IN BALI BUY THEM FOR A FAMILY KERIS THEN ITS A KERIS. IF ONLY TOURISTS BUY THEM FOR SOUVINEERS BECAUSE THEY ARE PRETTY THEN THEY ARE ART IN THE FORM OF A KERIS. AT LEAST THATS MY VIEW ON IT.
I DO LIKE THIS TYPE OF ITEM AS THE WORKMANSHIP IS IMPRESSIVE AND A COLLECTION OF THIS SORT OF HIGH END KERIS WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL (BUT EXPENSIVE )
I JUST FEEL THESE KERIS ARE NOT A PART OF TODAYS KERIS SOCIETY. UNLESS THEY ARE SOMETIMES USED TODAY FOR TAILSMAN, STATUS ,TEMPLE OFFERINGS OR CEREMONY??

[David]

Originally Posted by VANDOO

IT IS MODERN AND DONE IN THE TYPICAL BALI STYLE. IT IS CERTIANLY ART BUT IS IT A KERIS?
IT HAS EXCELLENT WOOD CARVING AND METAL WORK AND SET WITH LOW QUALITY GEM STONES AND IS A BEAUTIFUL HIGH END ITEM. IF LOCAL PEOPLE IN BALI BUY THEM FOR A FAMILY KERIS THEN ITS A KERIS. IF ONLY TOURISTS BUY THEM FOR SOUVINEERS BECAUSE THEY ARE PRETTY THEN THEY ARE ART IN THE FORM OF A KERIS. AT LEAST THATS MY VIEW ON IT.

Barry, you are leaving out an entire community of keris collectors both in Indonesia and abroad who consider these to be BOTH works of art AND keris. Higher end keris like this one are not really produced for the common tourist market as the common tourist is not willing to pay the price of it for a remembrance of their trip to Bali.
Less and less Indonesians are buying new keris for cultural reasons, but their are many collectors in Bali who support the making of the contemporary keris. My own criteria for whether it is a keris or not is whether it holds true to the tradition manufacture of keris and whether it is of a design which has been traditional accepted as a keris. This particular dhapur which you show, though rare, certainly has as older examples of it can be found.

[A. G. Maisey]

Barry, I can assure you that this is most definitely a keris.

It is also a work of art.

In times past this particular blade form was the prerogative of a priest.

The kajongan warangka is a form that in times past was favoured by young men, but today the old time restrictions no longer apply.

The dress on the keris shown is obviously recent, but it is very good quality dress, and as David has remarked, it is a very, very long way from what a tourist might purchase, even if he were fortunate enough to be offered something of this quality. We are not looking at little money here.

There are currently a number of pande keris and empus working in Bali, and most of their production is for the local market. In Bali the keris is required in a number of ceremonies, from memory, I think it is nine, and every adult Balinese man needs a keris to be a member of his community. There are only so many old keris, and the vast bulk of new Balinese buyers choose to buy a new keris rather than an old one, in any case.

There is a rather distorted perception that new and recent keris are produced for tourists, or collectors, both local and international.

This is absolutely incorrect.

In Balinese and Javanese society the keris is still a requisite item of dress.

There were only ever a limited number of old keris.

Each new person who needs a keris basically has the choice between a very low quality older keris, or a quite good quality recent keris, both of which will sell for about the same amount of money.There is no prize for guessing what most people buy.

Then we have the Indonesian art collectors, and this group includes a large number of people who are very orientated to the keris, as many people regard the keris (blade only) as the highest expression of the Javanese plastic arts.

In simple terms, you do not even get to see the best in modern keris art unless you are very well connected, and to actually be in a position to buy it is something that can take years of effort.

Mention has been made in another thread of the Neka Art Museum and Keris Collection at Ubud in Bali. The owner, Pak Suteja Neka, is a member of the Pande Caste and he sees his mission as to promote and preserve the Balinese keris. More than 90% of his collection is representative of the very best in modern keris art.

The sort of keris that tourists and inexperienced collectors buy are nearly always of very, very low quality, but in recent years, even these keris are able to be regarded as true keris, it is just a matter of them being at the bottom of the market.

I used to see keris that we could definitely categorise as "Tourist Keris", but I have not seen these in either Bali or Jawa for many years. Typically the Balinese ones had highly carved black wood dress, often of good quality, and the blade was a piece of sheet iron with the pamor pattern etched onto it. The Javanese ones were mostly old dress with a piece of sheet iron, or a worthless old blade, holding it together.

New and recent keris at the present time can definitely be considered as "real keris", but the quality is related to what the buyer is prepared to pay.

[David]

Originally Posted by David

Less and less Indonesians are buying new keris for cultural reasons, but their are many collectors in Bali who support the making of the contemporary keris.

Thank you Alan, i stand corrected.