Bali Keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav, with respect, I tend to disagree with you when you place dating of this Balinese dress into the period after WWI & before Japanese occupation of Bali.

I have seen, handled and owned Balinese keris with similar silver and/or brass, and ivory dress to the dress seen on this keris, and that did most definitely did originate in Bali during the late Colonial period, say 1890 to 1940.

In respect of the pendok, the older form of construction of a full cover Balinese pendok was in two pieces, the back part of the pendok extends to cover the sides of the gandar, and the front sleeve is a separate component, the edges of the front sleeve tuck down under the extended edges of the back part of the pendok. The two parts of the pendok are held in place with an adhesive, sometimes this adhesive is button shellac or damar, other times it can be a commercial adhesive. This type of construction does not require a mandrel to fabricate.

Later Balinese pendoks are sometimes still made in this oldtime way, but some time after WWII Balinese silver smiths began to use a mandrel for pendok construction, & we now find some recent Bali pendoks are made on a mandrel with a soldered joint on either the side or the middle of the back.

The embossed ornamentation on this keris is totally in character with Balinese embossed ornamentation of not only Balinese pendoks but also other Balinese artefacts.

The keris itself, ie, the blade is difficult to date, I tend to be conservative in dating Balinese keris blades & I would give it as mid-19th century or earlier. One of the things that influences me to date the blade, & I guess, the dress as being reasonably old is the fact that the keris appears to stand a little bit proud of the top of the wrongko, this was a style that was much more common in older Bali keris than in more recent Bali keris.

[Gustav]

Alan, I have yet to see a silver Togogan as Keris hilt, and a Balinese full silver Pendok with a firm provenance before 1930ties. Silver simply wasn't the preffered material/colour for Balinese, and for the members of Triwangsa Togogan as Keris hilt had to be gold or at least golden in colour.

Besides that, one striking characteristic of this Pendok is the fact both sides of it are organized as backsides ornamentally. This is not the traditional Bali style, and I don't think something like that was possible before 1930'ties. This is like a human person with two left hands. The execution of that ornamentation, especially flowers, is very chinese in style.

The quite symplified details of hilt (compared to Togogan before 1908) - here I have difficulties to see it as a work done even before WWII. As we know, not much was going on on Bali in the 50'ties and 60'ties, it started again in 70'ties.

[A. G. Maisey]

As you wish Gustav.

[Gustav]

A good answer, Alan.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you for your compliment Gustav, however, my comment should not be understood as an answer. Answers follow questions, & no question has been asked.

You have stated your opinion, I have stated my opinion.

Your opinion is based upon your experience, my opinion is based upon my experience.

I doubt that it is possible for me to transfer my experience to other people, and to be honest, I'm not all that interested in attempting to do so.

You & others may accept my opinion, or reject it, there is no loss, & no gain for me, either way.

To be clear, my opinion cannot be regarded as a some sort of thesis that needs to be defended, & that I want people to believe, this opinion represents what I know to be fact, that element of fact is based upon an involvement of more than 70 years of experience in this field, that includes well over 100 visits to Bali during a period of 58 years, and entails all of the personal contacts and trade & academic information that I have garnered.

If you do not wish to accept my opinion, then please just disregard it.

Perhaps the attached photos might be of interest.

The photos are of the hilt & pendok of a Balinese keris that I have had in my possession since about 1956, it was one of the first keris that I acquired after leaving school. I bought it from a Dutchman who had been living in Bali and who came to Australia very shortly before the Japanese invaded & occupied Bali in 1942. I have forgotten all the details of purchase, but my memory is that this man had been born in what is now Indonesia and he had farmed in East Jawa before moving to Bali some time during the 1930's. When he came to Australia he opened a restaurant & he had the keris that this hilt & pendok belong to, hanging on the wall.

Incidentally, the correct term for a Balinese pendok is "kandelan", correct term for a Balinese hilt is "danganan".

[A. G. Maisey]

Looks like I was too impatient.

David, please get rid of this unnecessary post if you can. Thanks.



For some reason the hilt failed to transfer, here it is:-

[Gustav]

Alan, I knew you wouldn't sit on that, thank you.

Yes, this is proper Balinese style ornamentation on Pendok, and this is a proper front side of a Pendok.

Letting the material question outside (so even if the Pendok would be made from gold), the ornamentation is too lush/dynamic to be pre-1908 work. As we know, old style Balinese art was quite different from that, what we are used to see today, even as "vintage" or "old", and it includes everything - carvings, painting, music, dance. It took a couple of years, but it all started to change around 1913 - and then of course from the beginning of 1930ties.