First post: A Balinese Keris

[A. G. Maisey]

You reckon its a pendok David?

Could be I suppose.

I thought it was the wood carved to imitate a pendok.

[GIO]

A good blade which deserves another hilt and scabbard. The hilt in question is recent and mass-produced.

[A. G. Maisey]

GIO, I agree that the hilt is recent, but it is most definitely not mass-produced.

Mass-production is a factory based process where a product is standardised and produced as many objects exactly the same in a production line.

This hilt was carved and decorated as an individual piece.

It is likely that several craftsmen were involved in its production, and this is totally normal in virtually all fields of Balinese/Javanese craft work, but this hilt most certainly did not come off any production line as a standardised product.

[GIO]

[QUOTE=A. G. Maisey;269187]GIO, I agree that the hilt is recent, but it is most definitely not mass-produced.


You are right, Alan. When I wrote the post I had in mind the kris of Marius66.
I take this opportunity to wish to you and to your family a happy 2024.
Gio

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you for your good wishes GIO.

May I extend the same same good wishes for the coming year to you & your family, and to all of those who choose to join us here, a happy, healthy & prosperous 2024.

[milandro]

Originally Posted by GIO

You are right, Alan. When I wrote the post I had in mind the kris of Marius66.
I take this opportunity to wish to you and to your family a happy 2024.
Gio

Marius66 published his kris in 2023 (see thread) , mine was published way before in 2022


http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29438



but yes, whilst that dress is the most common dress for tourist, this is certainly anything but common. I have yet to see another.



I asked back then the meaning of the depiction and later on, I found that these are INDEED scenes of the RAMAYANA (and not just any fantasy pictures) , I posted again, not in conjunction with Mariu66 post, to add information to the forum should anyone even come across this in future

[David]

Originally Posted by milandro

I asked back then the meaning of the depiction and later on, I found that these are INDEED scenes of the RAMAYANA (and not just any fantasy pictures) , I posted again, not in conjunction with Mariu66 post, to add information to the forum should anyone even come across this in future

Yes, it is not surprising that the images depicted on your sarung are indeed scenes of Ramayana.While i did recommend not looking too deeply to find meaning in it i don't believe anyone here suggested that the scene was "fantasy". However, just to be clear, that does not change the fact that this dress would not be considered suitable for cultural wear for a man in Bali. It was still most likely designed to be attractive to Western collector's eyes.

[A. G. Maisey]

Milandro, although sunggingan used on keris dress is relatively uncommon in genuine Balinese work, it is not at all uncommon in Javanese keris dress, & also in keris dress that follows the style of various regions, but is produced in East Jawa for the collector market, both local & international.

In sunggingan work used on keris dress, and that has characters included in the design, those characters are usually drawn from myth & legend, say from the wayang, or from the great religious texts and sagas & sometimes from indigenous belief.

In some situations the colours used in the sunggingan work can have a meaning, that meaning being an indicator of hierarchical status in a defined sphere.

In other situations, both the colour scheme and the ornamentation itself has no meaning other than pure artistic ornamentation.

In a situation where meaning is intended, the complete keris is suitable for wear within the relevant society, where it serves the purpose of a status indicator.

The dress used for your keris has been carved in an authentic style, the hilt is a totogan, the scabbard is batun poh form, relief carving on a scabbard is uncommon in old keris, but has become more frequently seen in both keris prepared for local use in Bali, and in keris prepared for the collector market.

The unusual element in your keris is the use of very non-typical sunggingan work.

There are definitely some questions circling around this keris, but they are questions that could only be answered by a person with long experience in the field, and with the keris in hand, photos only ever tell a part of the story.

[David]

Originally Posted by GIO

A good blade which deserves another hilt and scabbard. The hilt in question is recent and mass-produced.

I agree with Alan in the hilt. Recent, but certainly not "mass-produced".
As for the sarong, i have to admit that it has a certain "charm". It is certainly not saying it is something that would be acceptable for cultural wear. It is decorative and i'm not really sure exactly why it would have been created this way, except perhaps, as i suggested, to attract the eye of tourists. But i am not a Balinese man and would never have a reason to wear this keris in public. As a collector though i see it as a somewhat interesting example of Balinese decorative arts of that era. Unlike the sarongs that we most often see on those nasty cookie cutter tourist keris, this one is unique and i would consider accepting this keris dressed as is, especially if this sheath was indeed carved specifically to fit this blade. Call me crazy. LOL!

[milandro]

the scene depicted on the Top is certainly from the Ramayana and shows the golden deer which appears to Rama and Lakshmana

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

You reckon its a pendok David?

Could be I suppose.

I thought it was the wood carved to imitate a pendok.

I may have confused you with a typo (i originally wrote "there is now pendok with this ensemble", now corrected). But i have not changed my last sentence of my post at all where i stated This keris as well as the other keris you posted do not have pendoks".
So no, i do not reckon it's a pendok at all.