Madura Wrongko's of Various Types?

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by Naga Sasra

... wrongko is from the very same culture, one thing noticeable is both of them have a pendok in the Yogya/Central Javanese older style with the top edge arched.

Shahrial, do you know the origin of the wrongko on your piece?

Unfortunately, I do not know either. General discussions amongst local collectors had pointed in the direction of Pesisir, Java North Coast region.

[Naga Sasra]

I just read the entire thread from post number #1, if we look at post #9 the last two photos, look at the wrongko, imagine it without the leaf and flower carving.

Now is it my imagination, or is this wrongko formed just like the one from Alam Shah and mine as well?

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, to me, these three wrongkos look to have the same form.

Alam Shah`s and Erik`s examples look to have Jogja style pendoks.

The pendok on mine could be interpreted as Madura, or could be interpreted as generic Javanese.

I don`t think there is any doubt that the carving on my example is Madurese, and this carving is fairly old. The wrongko itself was bought in Aeng Tong-Tong, and was very dirty when purchased.

Because of where it was purchased, the person from whom it was purchased, and the condition when purchased, along with the unmistakably Madurese carving, I have always been inclined to accept this as another variation in Madura style, however, in light of these other two examples, maybe it is not.

At this point, my inclination is pend the Madura attribution and begin looking at old examples of known origin and provenance, which means pieces in old European collections.

North Coast Jawa has been suggested.
In my (20th century) experience, there is considerable overlap between North Coast Jawa, East Jawa, and Madura---and again between East Jawa and West Bali.

I have in mind a North Coast type of wrongko that does in fact have a rather squarish profile. Perhaps a closer look at this type may suggest something.

This presentation of three examples has highlighted one of the problems of identifying origin of all parts which go to make a complete keris. As soon as we move away from the influence of a Kraton, it appears that what we often find is a mix and match situation, and this mixing and matching is not exclusive to dealers. I recently had the opportunity to provide an opinion on an old keris of known point of collection , and collected in the early 1940's.It had been the keris of a village headman. It was a mixture of Bugis, Palembang, home-made repairs and substitutions, and a wrongko atasan that could have been from any one of many places. It was collected in Sumatra.

With keris, things do not always follow textbook examples.

[A. G. Maisey]

Here are a few more Madura wrongkos.

[A. G. Maisey]

And a few more.

[Naga Sasra]

The variety and beauty of these pieces are truly a statement as to the artistic talent of the Madurese carvers, all of the Madura wrongko in this thread express superb quality. I personally thank you all for participating.

However, there is one style of wrongko that I have been waiting to appear, as I do not have an example of my own, I am attaching photos with references to the books from which they are "lifted". Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, but they reflect the poor quality of the photo in the books.

This style is quite often being mistook as being from Bali, and advertised as such. But there are indeed differences in the details of the carving. Some authors call it as being from East Jawa or Jawa Timur others strictly Maduran.

So what is it East Jawa, Madura or a combination?

[A. G. Maisey]

Erik, this is exactly the same style as your topengan posted on 18 Sept.

Yes, the mask on the ones you have just posted is larger, but this is only due to the fact that your example is a more recent one, and consequently more refined. The copied photos you have just posted are older, the topengan was probably added to the wrongko later, and made to fit: your own example was constructed as an original entity.

In fact, I do have one similar to the ones you have just posted. I`ll photo it and post pics when I get a chance.Look at the wrongko itself:- it is exactly the same in your example, and in the ones you have just posted. The difference is only that in these older ones the topengan is not as neatly mated to the wrongko, but thrown together, almost as an after thought.

Have a look at the bright yellow wrongko with no pendok , in my first post of images. This is a good grass-roots example of this wrongko style. This is an old, old wrongko. It is one of the first keris I ever owned, and I have had it for about 50 years. When I bought it the atasan was in three pieces, the gandar had massive holes in it, and it was suffering from dry rot. What you see in the picture I posted is a total restoration.

As to where they originated.

In 1835 Cakra Adiningrat VIII of Madura gifted a very fine example of one of these keris to King William I of The Netherlands. I feel it is extremely unlikely that a Madurese ruler would present a Balinese keris to the sovereign who was effectively his overlord.

The Balinese style of dress that is found in Madura has a legend attached to it. Broadly, it is this:- a ruler from Bali set out invade Suminep. He reached the coast near Suminep with his troops, and began to march towards Suminep. The Suminep ruler heard of his coming, circled around behind him, smashed the boats, then encircled the Balinese invader.The ruler of Suminep gave the Balinese the option of swearing allegiance to him, and recieving land and a local woman as wife, or not swearing allegiance to him, and dying. The smart money took the oath and settled down as citizens of Suminep.These Balinese/Madurese retained their keris dress.

Over the years this dress has retained, or maybe developed very, very minor variations to the Balinese dress we see in Bali, generally it is very , very slightly more "compressed", and has a "fatter" appearance.
In fact, the keris presented to William I has a wrongko that is almost to Balinese proportions, but it is betrayed by the handle, which has the proportions of the Bali/Madura style, and it does not carry a pendok of Balinese style, manufacture, or proportion.

On all these Bali/Madura topengans I have yet to see a single one that has a pendok of Balinese proportions. All I have ever seen have pendoks with the proportions of a Jawa/Madura keris. However, I think it reasonable to assume that if people of Balinese origin used this style of keris dress in Madura, it probably had an original model back in Bali, where they came from.Be this as it may, I have yet to see a keris of this style with a Balinese pendok, or with a blade that is inarguably Balinese.

Based upon my personal observations, I am of the opinion that this form of dress is a style that was used by people of Balinese origin, living in Madura. I can find no reason to give it an East Javanese attribution, and although a similar style may have existed in Bali, I have yet to see this style of dress mated with gandar and blade of definite Balinese origin.

[A. G. Maisey]

Here is one of my long time favourites that escaped from captivity a couple of weeks back.

This form has a lot of variations, they were usually carved by the person who owned the keris, not kraton wear, but rural village use and a form of folk art.

The motif is a personal choice and is normally some sort of flower or leaf or vine type motif.

[Rick]

Exquisite masterful carving; I don't think I have ever seen a better example of this style of wrongko.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your compliments Rick, but I do have a few more of these, and in my opinion the ones I still have are probably better than this one.

I like these wrongkos, some people think they were early examples of the dreaded "Kerisus Turisticus", but this is quite incorrect, they were and are a form of folk art.

[Sajen]

Yesterday I received this wrongko from Madura, I think it's worth to add to this thread.

[Sajen]

Another one which is worth for sharing.