Is This A Royal Keris?

[A. G. Maisey]

Well David, I did touch on one specific possibility, but to pursue this line of thought further, I believe we would probably need to address the matter on a situational basis, and to do that we would need to phase a question such as this:- were the members of the Cirebon Keraton hierarchic at all levels permitted to wear gold on their kerises on all occasions, during the period such & such to such & such?

Then it would be necessary to research this very broad ranging question, if that were possible. Possibly we might find that they could wear gold under some circumstances, and not under others, so then we would need to pin down the specific times and specific circumstances.

The way to approach this matter would be to state a rank, time, situation and court. Then try to find out something, and that something may or may not be available.

Its just not an easy question David, and we cannot use a shotgun approach, we need to specify all the parameters and then hope we can find an answer, which could well be impossible.

[David]

I certainly agree with you on specificity Alan. However, what i think we are trying to establish in this case is the likelihood of a well dressed keris with old kinatah or other gold embellishments being a "Royal Keris". To get an idea of that likelihood i would say that any tales of specific proscriptions would at least get us started in this discussion. Of course, to get specific here, that first keris posted in the original question appears to be a Palembang keris from (perhaps) some time in the 19th century. So if we are going to answer José's question we need to be looking at the Palembang court from that time period. I have not personally found much reading material on Sumatran courts and don't know if finding the answer here is possible or not. As with many things to due with the keris, answers are not always available. That does not usually dissuade me, however, from asking the question.
I also have a nice Palembang keris with a very similar gold pattern applied by what appears to be the same method. I agree with you that this (and mine) was most likely owned by a wealthy man such as a merchant rather than a a royal. So to couch my question more specifically, are you (or anyone) aware of any particular proscriptions on having gold on your keris in the Palembang court from this time period? You are, of course, correct that we would need to look closely at the specific court and time period for any keris we were to poise this question about and take them on a singular basis.

[A. G. Maisey]

If we are going to talk about Palembang, I'm afraid I cannot make any relevant contribution, although Palembang does have a recognised connection to the Javanese courts it is an area that I have never paid much attention to. Further being away from home I do not access to any references that might of use, all I have is the net, and I'm afraid I have not a great deal of faith in what is available there. Most especially so as I am currently using computers that take minutes to reload a page. One short email can take 10 or fifteen minutes to take care of.

But in any case, I think that perhaps the first thing that needs to be defined is exactly what is meant by the term "royal keris".

I used to have an exceptionally fine example of this type of Palembang keris, gold selut, finely carved ivory hilt, rose gold (suasa) pendok, very high quality kinatah. Regrettably it has been stolen. May the scumbag who now has it never sleep again.

[Battara]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I used to have an exceptionally fine example of this type of Palembang keris, gold selut, finely carved ivory hilt, rose gold (suasa) pendok, very high quality kinatah. Regrettably it has been stolen. May the scumbag who now has it never sleep again.

I hear you and understand............unfortunately.

[David]

Yes Alan, i am afraid that José can relate to you all too well regarding stolen keris.
I suppose that in my own estimate i would consider anything that would have been owned and carried by someone considered an accepted member of the royal court to qualify. Some might be more restrictive and only see keris owned by members of the royal family to count.

[DAHenkel]

interesting discussion everyone...I would like to clarify firstly that I was not protesting change or evolution. Not at all! Contemporary innovation can be wonderful. However my concern is based in overly simplistic execution and interpretation. Because a keris is made with gold or silver its a masterpiece? A false logic but one which all too many people fall for. My issue is that the foundational principles on which keris art and craftsmanship are based are crumbling. We live in a world where cheaper, mass produced cookie cutter efforts are rewarded and the genuine artist is ignored. Alan, you are absolutely correct when you say the solution is for people to learn and I think we all can agree that history will not judge kindly 99.9% of the production coming out today.

Also, briefly with regards to the wearing of gold, it is widely accepted within Islamic jurisprudence that wearing gold ornaments is haram for men. However this prohibition is not very widely observed. Some probably due to ignorance, others because they don't care or think its not that big of a deal. Many dissemble, wearing "suasa" or some other alloy of gold or by offering some other excuse. I'm not judging them either way here but clearly this was a factor in how keris were traditionally decorated. Many traditional Southeast Asian texts reference sumptuary laws on the wearing of gold but these would have been predecated on the ruler's ability to enforce those norms. Naturally the use of gold embellishment would have evolved and changed over time and place, probably in more or less direct correlation to a ruler's power and position.