Bali keris of unknown origin

[A. G. Maisey]

The keris itself looks to be very nice, old, good condition, 19th century, classic.

The gambar of the wrongko (the top cross part) looks as if it could be original to the blade.

The pendok & the cup upon which the hilt sits are not Balinese, the hilt is a modern era carving that mixes elements of the Balinese Nawa Sari form and elements of an elephant form probably intended as Ganesha, which of course it is not, not particularly recent, maybe 1960's-1970's, and probably done in Sumenep.

My guess is that this keris was redressed in Surabaya, it looks like the sort of thing that Pak Hardiono of Jln. Ngagel Tomo used to sell.

[Rick]

I was surprised to see the face of Lord Ganesha on this style of ukiran.

[David]

Nothing much to add to what Alan said. I do really like the blade. The hilt is a strange mix for me. Also i can't recall seeing a wrapped gandar like that on Bali keris. If i knew what the wood looked like underneath i would almost be inclined to remove it. It does look a bit loose in the wrapping, especially the upper part so you could possible push it aside a little and have a peek.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes David, its a nice keris, but a dealer who knew very little about keris got hold of it along the way and dressed it incorrectly, as it is, it is regrettably a very bad joke, almost an insult.

The hilt should be removed and put in a bottom drawer somewhere, then replaced with one that is free of insult. Clearly the carver had no idea at all of what he was supposed to be carving.

The pendok should be removed and if the gandar is even halfway passable it could live without the pendok. The gandar could be lacquered if it is a bit ordinary, lacquer would be better than what is on it now.

[David]

Originally Posted by Rick

I was surprised to see the face of Lord Ganesha on this style of ukiran.

I have a similar hilt that shows a Ganesha like face with the right hand position of Nawa Sari. While my blade is indeed an older one i suspect the hilt is likely kamardikan, so may be like this one a mixing of characters.

[A. G. Maisey]

Do yourself a favour David, and replace it.

Wrapped up and into the back of the bottom drawer.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Do yourself a favour David, and replace it.

Wrapped up and into the back of the bottom drawer.

It could happen one day. This keris needs a bit before it would be ready for court wear anyway. I found it rusting away in a curio shop window with no sheath. So that is more likely a necessity before i think about replacing the hilt. But no worries. I have no illusions that this is an good hilt. Just wanted to show that such combinations have been done more than once.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah, we've had the Bali Hilt discussion more times than once in the past.

There are a number of factors involved, I personally think that the major one is that most hilts in the modern era have not been carved by religiously conscious people, and only done for decorative effect, but there is the other thing too:- a lot of so-called "Balinese Carving" is actually done in other places where wage rates are lower.

I used to know a young bloke in Solo whose father carved perfectly beautiful small sculptures that were sold through a couple of Ubud galleries as Balinese. The Sumenep craftsmen have been carving for the Balinese market for years.

I might have seen this particular "Nawanesha" combination before, but I don't remember it, I tend to quickly pass over things for sale in Bali that are outside the bounds of tradition.

[Marcokeris]

Just to stay on the topic of discussion I post a photo of two wooden Madura hilts made for Bali market