Palembang Keris for your comment

A. G. Maisey · 20th November 2013, 08:15 AM

John, I think you might find that the hilt cup on the second keris is brass, possibly gold plated or gilded.

Palembang is in South Sumatra, it had and has long time political and cultural ties with the House of Mataram in Central Jawa, and was also influenced by Banten. Because of these associations the keris that come from Palembang very often have features that resemble either Banten keris, or Central Jawa keris.

"suwasa" (ngoko) or "suwaos"" ( krama) is low content gold alloy, supposedly anything under 14 carat. There are a lot of ways to spell this word, and there are other words for the same alloy. There is another alloy that is also called suwasa, and that is what we call in English "pinchbeck", the only way to tell the difference between pinchbeck and low carat gold is to get it tested by a jeweller.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

20th November 2013, 08:15 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	John, I think you might find that the hilt cup on the second keris is brass, possibly gold plated or gilded. Palembang is in South Sumatra, it had and has long time political and cultural ties with the House of Mataram in Central Jawa, and was also influenced by Banten. Because of these associations the keris that come from Palembang very often have features that resemble either Banten keris, or Central Jawa keris. "suwasa" (ngoko) or "suwaos"" ( krama) is low content gold alloy, supposedly anything under 14 carat. There are a lot of ways to spell this word, and there are other words for the same alloy. There is another alloy that is also called suwasa, and that is what we call in English "pinchbeck", the only way to tell the difference between pinchbeck and low carat gold is to get it tested by a jeweller.