A Cirebon (put-together) keris

[Marcokeris]

BluErf
Your nice ivory hit could be from Tegal (of course Cirebon style)... but there is something in the form (Nyamba ???) that tell me it could also comes from the area that runs from Madura till to the Jawa's cost in front of Balì.
To explain better i put here a photo of a hit that, i suppose, comes from this area.
About the blade IMO it could be done in Madura

[BluErf]

Hey Marcos,

That's a mighty interesting hilt you have!

Pg63 of Kerner's big book has a set of 4 pics of hilts attributed to the Nyamba style. Kerner wrote (ok, we have take with a pinch of salt) that Nyamba hilts were known only as metal hilts, and those 4 examples had almost a comical look. Yours had the same features, but a more dignified look, and not covered in motifs.

Though one question - is Nyamba a city or region name? Was trying to google to find out, but they led to keris auction descriptions and not much else.

Perhaps Tunggulametung could help throw some light on where my hilt was acquired?

And the blade - oh yes, definitely there's a chance it came from Madura. But at any rate, it's bearable. The few older Cirebon sheaths I've seen almost always was made for blades with big robust ganja. So that's something to be said about the current small petite little blade in it.

[A. G. Maisey]

Try googling nyamba + wayang---that'll give you answers.

Blade is dhapur kebo kanthong, its Javanese.

[BluErf]

Thanks Alan. Another question - could this dhapur be attributed to a more specific region of Java, or can this reasonably be found in many parts of Java?

[A. G. Maisey]

I do not know.

However, I would think that Jawa Tengah might be a better bet than Jawa Timur, or Banten. This dhapur always seems to be a light blade, it lacks the basic characteristics of places other than Jawa Tengah --- but when I say that, we need to bear in mind the historic association of Jawa Tengah with the North Coast. In the hand you could probably offer a guess based on tangguh applied to the material.If you came up with sufficient that fitted the same tangguh, then you could offer a little more certainty. I've actually seen quite a few that were tangguh Gresik, but Gresik was renowned for copying earlier patterns from Pajajaran and Majapahit, so that probably doesn't mean much.

[tunggulametung]

Hello BluErf,

Probably better to wait until next time you find a decent Cirebon set one as the hilt seems need to be retired, but that's just an opinion; or at least get a temporary mendak to compliment the set and remember don't fit too tight . The hilt was acquired in Jakarta from someone who knows too little about keris. Without having sufficient reference, at first I thought it was Sumatran as I don't recognize the ornament. But DD from Germany inform me that it is Nyamba style, to which I later agree even it is different from what I previously preceive as Nyamba style.

To my knowledge Nyamba style is a wayang figure inspired hilt. But why Samba? I don't know. On Ensiklopedi Wayang Purwa (seems to be extracted from different sources), there are two characters of Samba, the first one is Sanghyang Samba, later known as Sanghyang Batara Guru. The second one is Samba the son of Sri Kresna, an army chief commander who usually supported by Batara Durga when he needs help. But what interesting is Samba as also known as Wisnubrata in Central Java is not an idol figure while in West Java he is an ideal/brave army figure. Another interesting information is that in Madura, Samba often described with a tail since her mother is Dewi Jembawati is a daughter of resi Jembawan-a monkey character. So maybe West Java?

I think this Samba hilt relates to the so we known as Cirebon Raksasa or Jawa Demam up to whatever similar in the Malay/Bugis world. But as usual it just a wild guest (to put it better: an imagination without enough reference), I might be unable to proof. Just observe at the figure, which so similar with Cirebon Raksasa. As for where its originates, maybe anywhere with wayang background. But how about the idea of Banten/Bantam? Cirebon was once under this kingdom right? Anyone has a reference?

As we know wayang in Islam period is dehumanized figure (do I use the right term to described "formed into less human like"? ), perhaps the same case in the keris world. Your hilt has the relatively similar hand position but not showing a mudra finger (or it is the stylized ornament between the hands?), but the hand position itself may reflect certain meaning (ancestral?). Further more it might be transformed further to what suit Islam better, a folded hand and the more non-creature or say human like Jawa Demam. All the bird/garuda-like figure on keris world might be a later explanation IMO.

P.S: I remember Adrian Noe's collection has a similar hilt, the one made of gold but the head is lion (?) - sorry I'm not able to find the webpage anymore. It's not a Javanese set, maybe a Sumatran kind.

[David]

Originally Posted by tunggulametung

P.S: I remember Adrian Noe's collection has a similar hilt, the one made of gold but the head is lion (?) - sorry I'm not able to find the webpage anymore. It's not a Javanese set, maybe a Sumatran kind.

Is this the hilt you are referring to? If so Noe had it's origins listed as Banjarmasin.

Kai Wee, i love this dhapur and have a very similar one in my own collection. I have also seen it identified as Kebo Giri. Does anyone know if this is a correct name variation or just a common keris misnomer?