Balinese Keris Holders

[ivoke]

to show the differences between Semar and twalen (hence Jawa and Bali wayang gulit)

Semar



Twalen....note the movable jaw, this means he can speak for himself.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for that Ivoke.

I'm not strong on Javanese wayang, and I know even less about Balinese wayang.

I don't think that Twalen is considered to be a clown anywhere.

Your remarks on "old stuff" are absolutely spot on. The Balinese attitude is a matter of anthropological record. The Javanese attitude is similar in final result, but is generated by different factors.

This attitude towards material goods which are no longer new, bright, and serve the purpose of enhancement is a great boon for the bulk of collectors of all ethnographica ---including keris --- who live in the western world.

I've noticed a similar attitude towards old Levis and designer jeans:- you can buy a pair of new, straight from the factory, Levis for $XX, but when those Levis move uptown into Le Trendi Boutique, and acquire some artfully placed "distressing" --- read "holes" --- they become infinitely more valuable.

When a worn out entong moves from a Central Javanese rubbish dump to a Paddington gallery, it goes from being rubbish to becoming an important cultural artifact of outstanding significance.

Personally, I cannot understand this mindset, but then I acknowledge that I am often the odd man out.

However, at least in Jawa, it seems that the dealers have at last woken up to the preferences of collectors, and have adjusted the prices of items with some age to them to reflect the collector's idea of value, rather than the local idea of value.

As they say:- beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[A. G. Maisey]

Here are a couple of blawongs with wayang characters. This type of wall board goes back at least to Majapahit times. At that time they were called "stambha", and mention of them can be found in the Nagara-Kertagama. The word "stambha" is related to the word "stambhana" which in Old Javanese had the sense of a magic defence against disaster.

As the North Coast culture developed, these boards became very popular around Cirebon, and along the north coast.

Pigeaud is of the opinion that in Majapahit it was unlikely that they were used as places to hang a keris, simply because keris during Majapahit were not particularly prevalent, however, they were certainly used for this purpose as the North Coast culture blossomed.