Sunggingans

[Gustav]

Here is a link to a description of the second keris Rasdan posted, also a good chance to study an authentic end of 17th/beginning of 18th cent. Singa Barong blade from a somewhat better picture:

http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/ma...objectId=10902

Alan, I will post two pictures of this tabletop later this evening. I didn't found any on internet. The description as "lacquer painting" comes from "Exotica. Portugals Entdeckungen im Spiegel fürstlicher Kunst- und Wunderkammern der Renaissance, Wien 2000", ISBN 3-85497-009-9. It is a highly recomendable book, only after reading it I have understood, how fast the portuguese builded up a net of local workshops in countries they just have reached, to produce objects of interest for the very first, then mostly royal, collectors of curiosities back in Europe. From beginning on there is a very interesting mixture of styles (chinese artists from Macao tranplanted to Cochin to work in an indo/persian/portuguese style). Such mixture in arts is actually one of the most interesting sides of colonialism (like the upright piano in Burmese folk music from 1880-ties or violin and guitar in vietnamese folk music from the end of 19th cent.).

Regarding Balinese Sunggingans, I also thought, this could be a direct chinese influence/to me the style of painting very often looks chinese. Some time ago I was searching for a motif of two birds opposite one another. Here are two examples from Malay Peninsula and Bali, with birds and foliage, of course it could also be a pure coincidence. Till today I don't know the meaning of this motif (if there is any), yet I suppose, it could perhaps come from Middle-Asia and has been brought to SEAsia via chinese population.

[David]

If you look carefully Gustav you will see that my Bali example also has two birds facing one another, though my birds are not in flight.
Your Malay example i believe (as you are probably aware) is not painted, but rather inlaid wire (gold?).

[Gustav]

David, yes, indeed, there are birds on your Sunggingan. Thank you for the hint.

Attached are somewhat better pictures of the perhaps oldest provenanced Sunggingan, the other Vienna Keris, possibly first mentioned in 1607. It is in style very similar to the Sunggingan in Sendai (1622) and the Sunggingan from Skokloster in Sweden. The spontaneity of the painting is quite different from later Sunggingans. The thema of all these early Sunggingan is Alas-Alasan.

There is an interesting detail, an insect at the very top of the sheath, a dragonfly (?). An insect, mostly butterfly at this place is depicted also on some of the older modern Solo style Alas-Alasan Sunggingans (like the one on cover of Solyoms book), and, I see now, possibly also on David's Sunggingan.

The one possible explanation could be the Alas-Alasan as the cosmic model of the world and thus the insects (and birds) belonging to the heaven, the highest sphere.

"The vertical image is concerned with the universe. Fundamental is the inclusion of a protective elemant to faciliate contacts with the deities and the ancestors. Most basical is the bipartite upper world-lower world. The patterns consist of birds and flowering creepers - sky and earth. In FIGURE 11, the protective element is represented by the Chinese mythic dog-lion, ky'lin. (...) More complex is the abstracted tripartite world of water flowing down the mountains, forested land, and wings floating above in the sky (...)"

from "Five Centuries of Indonesian Textiles", the Mary Hunt Kahlenberg Collection, Prestel 2010.

Perhaps like ky'lin, the mythical kreature on this Sunggingan (similar to the three carriages with elephant head, eagle wings and lions body in Cirebon, dating back to the 16th cent. (1549)) has a protective function.

[Gustav]

Here pictures of the tabletop, attributed to Cochin, before 1595, compared to Sunggingan of Deutschorden's keris from Vienna. Singular for a Sunggingan and perhaps a possible evidence for a non-javanese taste is the horizontal orientation of the tableau.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you very much for the additional information Gustav. All of this is in an area where I have very slight knowledge. I find particularly interesting the use of Chinese artists by the Portuguese, as to my eye the green sunggingan wrongko to a greater degree, and the tabletop to a lesser degree both display a Chinese hand.

I am not saying that I am any sort of authority on Chinese art, but I have been surrounded by Chinese art and references for most of my life, and I have a very close association with somebody who paints in Chinese style. It is impossible for me to escape the saturation effect of Chinese art.

Insofar as Javanese symbolism is concerned , the quote that
"the vertical image is concerned with the universe" can be accepted in some representations, but it would be quite incorrect to accept this as an overarching interpretation that can be universally accepted.

The dragonfly in Javanese symbolism can be interpreted in a number of ways, rather like a word that can have a number of meanings depending on the context in which it is used. It is a symbol of change, it connects air and water, it can be read as a symbol related to a warrior, but it can also be a substitution for a butterfly.

The butterfly in Hindu symbolism is a symbol of Brahma, Brahma is the creator so the butterfly can be read as creation, or in Hindu thought, as rebirth, but there is another interpretation in Hindu thought, and that is as married harmony, in fact in one of the Hindu wedding ceremonies ( I forget which one) the ceremony begins with the word "prajapati". Prajapati is equivalent to (but not the same as) Brahma, but it can also be understood as "butterfly", or as "king".

Butterflies and dragonflies cannot be understood as birds or bird substitutes, birds can be understood in a number of ways, depending on the bird. In Javanese symbolism in general, as a bridge between the upper realm and the earth, so as a line of communication with the dead, this can particularly apply with the cockatoo, but with the dove, as a symbol of love or lust --- I've always found this a bit humorous, as amongst birds, the dove is exceptionally vicious with its own kind, it is one of the few birds that will fight its own kind to the death, mostly birds only fight to achieve domination, but not the dove:- doves fight to kill.

Anyway, butterflies and dragon flies occupying the same iconographic niche as birds? No. Not in Jawa anyway.

The association of dragonflies with water is interesting when we consider the use of a dragonfly motif in association with a keris, because one of the symbolic associations of the keris is with water. The part of the keris that is most closely tied to water symbolism is the ganja, which is probably symbolically associated with Dewi Gangga, and when we enter this realm of symbolic associations we're really getting into very deep water --- so to speak. Note that the dragonfly appears at the top of an alas-alasan motif, in line with the position of the ganja when the keris is in the warangka. Note also that the butterfly can be understood as a dragonfly substitute --- and vice versa.

Lots of thought provoking stuff here. Don't have a nervous breakdown thinking about it.

The symbolism of the alas-alasan motif is that it represents the world.

In Hindu thought the whole world is a forest --- actually three different kinds of forest ---, to maintain our world we must maintain the forests, everything in our physical world is an aspect of the singularity of the Supreme Being, we respect the world and all in it, we respect the Supreme Being. The Ultimate Reality is everywhere, in everything, but in the forest representation we symbolise only this world that we live in, not the cosmos.

I've used the Hindu example here, but Hindu symbolism and thought patterns are vital in understanding Javanese thought patterns. They may not be the same, but they do seem to permeate much of Javanese culture and society.

I cannot interpret accurately the two birds symbol that we see so frequently. I have had many interpretations of this symbol given to me, and I have read many more, but there seems to be so much variation in what can be understood from this symbol that I hesitate to try to interpret it at all.

[Gustav]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The symbolism of the alas-alasan motif is that it represents the world.

In Hindu thought the whole world is a forest --- actually three different kinds of forest ---, to maintain our world we must maintain the forests, everything in our physical world is an aspect of the singularity of the Supreme Being, we respect the world and all in it, we respect the Supreme Being. The Ultimate Reality is everywhere, in everything, but in the forest representation we symbolise only this world that we live in, not the cosmos.

Alan, thank you for the explanations regarding insects and birds, and especially the Gonjo-water connection. Regarding Sunggingan Solyom writes:

"On either side of the hole where the blade enters the sheath, may be painted a four petalled flower, probably a lotus, floating on water".

So the hilt (and Pesi) is sitting in a lotus, an idea, which lives forth also in Malay Pendokok with petals.

Regarding my use of the word "cosmos" in connection with Alas-Alasan:

Alas-Alasan is described as a "cosmic model" in the essay of Rens Heringa in "Five Centuries of Indonesian Textiles" 2010, which is a quite serious publication. His reference for this was Solyom&Solyom, "Notes on Indonesian Textiles" 1979, which I don't have.

In "The World of Javanese Keris" regarding Alas-Alasan (p. 54) Solyom writes:

"The combination seems clearly to represent a universal totality."

Cosmos is an universal totality.

[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav , Garrett & Bronwen Solyom are good friends of mine. I respect their work, I have a very good idea of their understanding of the keris.

I knew their principle mentor, Goh Tik Swan (Panembahan Harjonegoro alm.) and I am familiar with the orientation of his understanding of Indonesian, especially Javanese, art.

I have owned a copy of "World of the Javanese Keris" since it was first published, and in my opinion it is the most valuable single book that has ever been written on the keris. It contains no material error, but that does not mean that I agree with everything that is written in that book. I know the way in which their book was written, I know the reasons for which it was written, I know the sources which were drawn upon to provide the information contained between its covers.

The book itself, and that which is contained in it, is essential reading for everybody who has any interest at all in the keris.

However, no matter how excellent any printed material may be, that excellence cannot guard against a misinterpretation of the writer's meaning. Garrett & Bronwen do indeed use the term "universal totality", but they do not refer to this totality as "cosmos".

Cosmos is a very fine word, and it is much favoured by elegant writers, however, as with the word "universal" it has several meanings, and in the absence of an understanding of the context in which it is used, its use can lead to a misunderstanding. The word "cosmos" can be used to mean either the universe, or the world in which we live.

In the case of the alas-alasan motif, we are looking at a symbolic representation of the world in which we live, we are not looking at a representation of the universe. However, when a symbol of the gunungan is included in any motif, that is a reference to the cosmos, so if gunungan symbolism is included in an alas-alasan motif, it is referring to the cosmos, where "cosmos" can be understood as the world in which we live. But the complete alas-alasan motif is not representative of the cosmos where "cosmos" is to be understood as "world".

It is possible that Rens Heringa intended his use of "cosmos" to mean "the world in which we live", if so then I have no quarrel with that, however, it is more likely that he was misled by a minor misunderstanding in one of the captions in "World ---".

Caption to photo 151, a photo of a sunggingan warangka, gives the interpretation of the title "Paku Buana" as "nail of the universe", in fact Sinuhun's title should be interpreted as "nail of the earth", and to be understood as "nail at the centre of the earth".

You see, in the understanding of the Javanese people who regard Sinuhun (Paku Buana) as their lord it is he who maintains the order that holds the physical world together. I have been told on more than one occasion that the order of this world is totally dependent upon the prayers and meditation of Sinuhun. The world as we know it would collapse without Sinuhun to hold it together. In Javanese understanding, Surakarta Hadiningrat is at the centre of this world, and Sinuhun is at the centre of Surakarta Hadiningrat.

But this world, even though it may be at the centre of the universe, is a part of the universe:- Sinuhun cannot be the entity which holds the Universe together, for such an arrogant stance would place him above The One God, whomever one believes that God to be. Arrogance causes adversity and failure. Sinuhun would never take an action which could endanger the world. I am repeating here Javanese belief as it has been taught to me.

Sinuhun's realm is of this world, his authority does not extend to the entire universe.

So the understanding of the alas-alasan motif depends upon the way in which two words are to be understood, these words are "cosmos", and "universal".

We have addressed the way in which "cosmos" is to be understood, but "universal" can also be understood in more than one way. In association with the interpretation of the alas-alasan motif "universal" must be understood as "including the whole of something specified or implied" (Oxford), it must not be understood as a reference to the "whole of created or existing things regarded collectively". The thing that is implied in an understanding of the alas-alasan motif is this world, it is not the whole of creation.

Once this distinction between the whole of the physical world, and the whole of all things created or existing is understood, then the understanding of the alas-alasan motif becomes clear, and that understanding is precisely the Hindu understanding, where the entire world is regarded as a forest.