Bali Keris - Ex From Frey Collection

David · 17th August 2015, 03:12 PM

Well, i debated, as i always do with every keris, whether i actually wanted to post images of this, but since it has been published in a major magazine before and is already in the public domain i figured why not show some better images of it. It's kind of slow around here lately anyway.

This keris was once in the collection of Edward Frey and graced the cover of Arts Of Asia in 1975 when he wrote an article for that issue. The blade is around 16".

Battara · 18th August 2015, 12:24 AM

What a great piece! Congratulations. To save me from flipping pages, is this Balinese?

Rick · 18th August 2015, 01:24 AM

Really like the thin spidery pamor lines .

The cup is a different and unusual look; nicely understated .

David · 18th August 2015, 01:57 AM

Yep, understated is part of what i like about it Rick...and the way it feels in the hand. Have others seen this hilt form before?
Yes José, Balinese.

A. G. Maisey · 18th August 2015, 11:47 PM

That hilt and selut has troubled me from the time I first saw it, back on AofA in 1975.

I've seen similar, but not the same type, of hilt cups on Bali keris, but those I have seen have never had this sort of lung-lungan motif, which to my eye, in this context, looks out of place. It is a casting, so one would expect to see more than just this single example, my feeling is that this hilt cup has been modified from a Bugis hilt cup.

The hilt I feel can be interpreted as a wooden gerantim, I cannot see any other Bali hilt form that looks similar. It does have echoes of the bondolan form, but the carving reminds me of nothing so much as the gerantim.

I cannot associate this particular hilt form with what I have seen identified as mainland Bali, so I'm inclined to place it as maybe Lombok --- the Bugis hilt cup --- or maybe far west Bali, or even far east Jawa, Banyuwangi.

The sesrengatan wrongko is an exact equivalent of the Javanese ladrangan form, used for formal dress occasions.

RSWORD · 19th August 2015, 01:21 AM

David, thank you for sharing your lovely and unique example. One thing I notice on this one, that I have also noticed on a lot of other Keris, is there are a fair bit of scratches on the surface of the blade. They mostly run horizontal to the blade as well as across the ridge line. I see this in a lot of Keris and have wondered about it. Is it scabbard wear? You wouldn't think the direction of the scratches would be horizontal. Are they grind marks from manufacture that was never fully polished out? Does this indicate a particular level of quality? The more refined the polish the better the pamor is going to show I would think. Or, is it simply from decades of being handled? Blades being laid around without the scabbard, on top of other blades, etc. nothing any of us would do of course

but could answer what causes this kind of surface abrasions. Just curious.

David · 19th August 2015, 05:20 AM

Frankly Rick, i had thought the scratches on this blade might have come from an aggressive cleaning, albeit one done many years ago as i don't really see that many condition changes since when to was photographed for the 1975 cover of Arts of Asia.

David · 19th August 2015, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

That hilt and selut has troubled me from the time I first saw it, back on AofA in 1975.

I've seen similar, but not the same type, of hilt cups on Bali keris, but those I have seen have never had this sort of lung-lungan motif, which to my eye, in this context, looks out of place. It is a casting, so one would expect to see more than just this single example, my feeling is that this hilt cup has been modified from a Bugis hilt cup.

The hilt I feel can be interpreted as a wooden gerantim, I cannot see any other Bali hilt form that looks similar. It does have echoes of the bondolan form, but the carving reminds me of nothing so much as the gerantim.

I cannot associate this particular hilt form with what I have seen identified as mainland Bali, so I'm inclined to place it as maybe Lombok --- the Bugis hilt cup --- or maybe far west Bali, or even far east Jawa, Banyuwangi.

I'm not sure i'd say that it troubles me Alan, but i see what you mean. Though the way the cup is fitted to the hilt this doesn't seem to me to be some casual refit from parts that were simply laying around. It is tight, secure and semi permanent, a marriage of intention and it honestly doesn't look like any Bugis cup or motif that i am familiar with.
While i see what you mean about the hilt bearing some resemblance to aspects of gerantim hilts it seems more an amalgam of these two forms, one of which is, of course, not Balinese.

David · 19th August 2015, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

...my feeling is that this hilt cup has been modified from a Bugis hilt cup.

When one examines this hilt closely when in hand it becomes apparent from the fit that either the hilt was carved to fit the cup or the cup was formed or re-formed to fit the hilt.

Rick · 19th August 2015, 06:31 AM

Easily modified by a metal smith with a dapping block .

Part of the mystery; isn't it ?

A. G. Maisey · 19th August 2015, 09:41 AM

David, I used the word "troubled" in the sense that I was unable to place either the hilt or the selut into a totally Balinese context. Quite simply I have never seen a Balinese hilt of this style. I do not doubt that it is Balinese, but I cannot place it within the range of Balinese hilts with which I am familiar. Possibly somebody else can, but I cannot.

Yes, I agree, your hilt does share some similarities with the East Javanese one you have posted a pic of, that's the reason I wrote that possibly origin might be the Balinese community in the Eastern tip of Jawa, in the Banyuwangi regency.

However, the difference in the way the motif is carved bears no similarity at all to the East Javanese style, rather, it is as if somebody needed to create a gerantim, but lacked the resources to make one in the usual way, so they adapted the normal gerantim curl into the motif carved in wood.

I do not doubt for one moment that the fitting of the cup to the hilt was intentional, and I can see it has been done in a professional manner. When the traditional resources are not available, people do the best they can with what they have. We see quite a bit of this with keris dress. We're all used to seeing keris that follow the formal requirements of kraton --- or in the case of Bali, puri --- but there were and still are lots of people who do not come under the direct authority of the seats of royalty and entrenched cultural requirements.

This is quite a nice quality keris, it comes from a known source, it has been published in a prestigious magazine. My approach would be to consider the obvious quality and ignore the small deviation from the expected.

David · 19th August 2015, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

This is quite a nice quality keris, it comes from a known source, it has been published in a prestigious magazine. My approach would be to consider the obvious quality and ignore the small deviation from the expected.

Well i do...in fact, i may be the odd man out, but i would even go so far as to say i embrace the deviations. I tend to like oddities and mysteries.

Yes, i agree that the motifs used in my East Jawa hilt are completely different and i see exactly what you mean in your comparison to the gerantim forms. It was just the over all impression of the hilt that reminded me of this East Jawa form.
Rick, i am certainly willing to accept that the cup was adapted from another source and perhaps a dapping block can into play. However, i would think that might endanger the motifs if used as i understand dapping blocks. As for this specific viney motif, it is not quite like any i have seen on a Bugis hilt cup, but if someone has a similar one i would sure like to see it. As Alan points out, if it's from a casting there should be others, if not in Bali then perhaps somewhere in the Malay world.

17th August 2015, 03:12 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,023	Bali Keris - Ex From Frey Collection Well, i debated, as i always do with every keris, whether i actually wanted to post images of this, but since it has been published in a major magazine before and is already in the public domain i figured why not show some better images of it. It's kind of slow around here lately anyway. This keris was once in the collection of Edward Frey and graced the cover of Arts Of Asia in 1975 when he wrote an article for that issue. The blade is around 16". Attached Images

19th August 2015, 05:20 AM	#7
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,023	Frankly Rick, i had thought the scratches on this blade might have come from an aggressive cleaning, albeit one done many years ago as i don't really see that many condition changes since when to was photographed for the 1975 cover of Arts of Asia. Attached Images

19th August 2015, 06:31 AM	#10
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,262	Cup Easily modified by a metal smith with a dapping block . Part of the mystery; isn't it ?

18th August 2015, 12:24 AM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,139	What a great piece! Congratulations. To save me from flipping pages, is this Balinese?

18th August 2015, 01:24 AM	#3
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,262	Really like the thin spidery pamor lines . The cup is a different and unusual look; nicely understated .

18th August 2015, 01:57 AM	#4
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,023	Yep, understated is part of what i like about it Rick...and the way it feels in the hand. Have others seen this hilt form before? Yes José, Balinese.

18th August 2015, 11:47 PM	#5
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	That hilt and selut has troubled me from the time I first saw it, back on AofA in 1975. I've seen similar, but not the same type, of hilt cups on Bali keris, but those I have seen have never had this sort of lung-lungan motif, which to my eye, in this context, looks out of place. It is a casting, so one would expect to see more than just this single example, my feeling is that this hilt cup has been modified from a Bugis hilt cup. The hilt I feel can be interpreted as a wooden gerantim, I cannot see any other Bali hilt form that looks similar. It does have echoes of the bondolan form, but the carving reminds me of nothing so much as the gerantim. I cannot associate this particular hilt form with what I have seen identified as mainland Bali, so I'm inclined to place it as maybe Lombok --- the Bugis hilt cup --- or maybe far west Bali, or even far east Jawa, Banyuwangi. The sesrengatan wrongko is an exact equivalent of the Javanese ladrangan form, used for formal dress occasions.

19th August 2015, 01:21 AM	#6
RSWORD Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 1,083	David, thank you for sharing your lovely and unique example. One thing I notice on this one, that I have also noticed on a lot of other Keris, is there are a fair bit of scratches on the surface of the blade. They mostly run horizontal to the blade as well as across the ridge line. I see this in a lot of Keris and have wondered about it. Is it scabbard wear? You wouldn't think the direction of the scratches would be horizontal. Are they grind marks from manufacture that was never fully polished out? Does this indicate a particular level of quality? The more refined the polish the better the pamor is going to show I would think. Or, is it simply from decades of being handled? Blades being laid around without the scabbard, on top of other blades, etc. nothing any of us would do of course but could answer what causes this kind of surface abrasions. Just curious.

19th August 2015, 09:41 AM	#11
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	David, I used the word "troubled" in the sense that I was unable to place either the hilt or the selut into a totally Balinese context. Quite simply I have never seen a Balinese hilt of this style. I do not doubt that it is Balinese, but I cannot place it within the range of Balinese hilts with which I am familiar. Possibly somebody else can, but I cannot. Yes, I agree, your hilt does share some similarities with the East Javanese one you have posted a pic of, that's the reason I wrote that possibly origin might be the Balinese community in the Eastern tip of Jawa, in the Banyuwangi regency. However, the difference in the way the motif is carved bears no similarity at all to the East Javanese style, rather, it is as if somebody needed to create a gerantim, but lacked the resources to make one in the usual way, so they adapted the normal gerantim curl into the motif carved in wood. I do not doubt for one moment that the fitting of the cup to the hilt was intentional, and I can see it has been done in a professional manner. When the traditional resources are not available, people do the best they can with what they have. We see quite a bit of this with keris dress. We're all used to seeing keris that follow the formal requirements of kraton --- or in the case of Bali, puri --- but there were and still are lots of people who do not come under the direct authority of the seats of royalty and entrenched cultural requirements. This is quite a nice quality keris, it comes from a known source, it has been published in a prestigious magazine. My approach would be to consider the obvious quality and ignore the small deviation from the expected.