Balinese blade with pamor miring

[henri]

Interesting Alan .

That reminds me some great artist painters of the Italian Renaissance . For example much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was done by his employees like Leonardo da Vinci who collaborated with Verrocchio on most of his masterpieces .

[Jean]

Alan,
Very interesting post indeed and a well deserved tribute to the Madurese kris makers (smiths and carvers).
I wonder whether it could be recognized that the blade carving was made in Bali or elsewhere from the smooth balinese finish of the surface or not, what do you think?
Regards

[Gustav]

This is an old picture taken by Bernet Kempers supposedly in the 40-ties. It could be an East-Javanese Keris.

Interesting to compare the deepness of Ricikan-carvings: on Henri's example they are quite shallow, the maker feared to go through the layer of Pamor - exposed Slorok in Blumbangan and Sogokan wouldn't look good.

Ricikan-carvings on the Keris in B.K. picture are deeper; the picture isn't very good, so we don't see if the Pamor layer is completely intact. Yet we could expect it - the Pamor welding, forging and Ricikan-carving are done very well - please compare also the Pamor control at the last Luk.

[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav, overall, that looks like a rather peculiar keris. My feeling is that here we might be looking at the Madura form that is associated with the failed Balinese invasion. But even then, that pendok with the slorok a la Jogja is a bit hard to swallow. I wonder where Bernet Kempers sourced this keris?

[Gustav]

Yes Alan, I have had similar thoughts regarding the possible origin. The hilt and sheath have some resemblance to this somewhat misused ensemble:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=polish+museum

(By the way, the very broad Pelet Kendhit on both hilts looks almost identical.)

I think, Bernet Kempers took these pictures in the old Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap Museum. One of the objets depicted in other photos is the sheath from van der Hoop, page 289, b).

[Gustav]

Regarding the Pendok with Slorok: there are similarities also between the B.K. examples Gambar and the old Jogja style Gambar; the Jogja Gambar is more bulky as it is today.

Yet the floral decoration on B.K. Slorok does appear to lush and sensual to be Jogja to me.

[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav, I have several examples of the Madura/Bali style wrongko and I have seen others, and I have handled perhaps thousands of the Jogja style wrongko. In my opinion there is no similarity at all between these two types. I do agree that in the profile, as seen in a photograph, there is a slight resemblance because of the rounded form, but size and cross section is very different in each.

As to the slorok, the Jogja example you have shown is a bunton, and in the hand, you would find this to be a very small, slight wrongko, The pendok is embossed, not krawang work, as is the Bali/Madura slorok.

Many old Bali pendok are made in two parts,. with a slorok, but I have yet to see one that is ornamented with krawangan. These two part Bali pendok are not removable from the wrongko, but are glued in place with damar, or sometimes fish glue, they are also quite bulky.

The topengan on this Bali/Madura keris is not really typical of the style.

By any measure this keris that Bernet Kempers chose to record is a very unusual keris. Unusual to the point of being peculiar, because firstly it is a style that is quite rare:- Bali/Madura, and secondly its mixes styles, forms and motifs. Frankly, I have a great deal of difficulty in aligning it in total with any specific location. The blade is Bali style, but not Bali execution, the hilt and scabbard, if stripped of ornamentation, are Bali/Madura, but the pendok mixes the execution and form one would expect to see from Ngayogyakarta with motifs that seem to more or less Javanese generic.

In my view this is a peculiar keris.

[Gustav]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I wonder where Bernet Kempers sourced this keris?

It seems, it's now on display in the new Museum National in Jakarta, together with another Keris with Pendok Krawangan.

[A. G. Maisey]

So now we have two very peculiar keris.

[Gustav]

Here is a third Pendok Krawangan of this kind.

Also two depictions of Madurese officials, which are said to be from 1830 (I don't have a completely convincing source for them), three others should exist.
There was a very strong admiration for Balinese dress and dances (and perhaps other things as well) in Madura at least since Cakraningrat IV (around 1718). So a century later it was still there.