Another one I've had for 20+ years

[Ian]

According to my notes, I acquired this keris in the late 1990s. What interested me was the karaton designation, and the sharply defined pamor which appealed at the time.There is an old tag on the back of the scabbard that says keris karaton pamekasan (?) ...


I'm interested to learn more about this one.


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[jagabuwana]

Nice keris, Ian.
If it were me, I'd take a look at the silhouette of the gonjo looking at it from top down, to see if it would support a Tuban classification.

[JustYS]

Hi Ian,

Keraton Pamekasan refers to Madura court

Pamor kulit semangka = pamor watermelon skin

Tilam upe might refer to the dhapur (form) of the keris. In Java it would be called Tilam Upih. However normally dhapur Tilam Upih would have a tikel alis, which I do not see here. Without tikel alis then the dhapur would be called Brojol.

[rasdan]

Hi Ian,

I am not sure. But every time I see a straight keris with broad pamor and coarse iron like that I intuitively think of Madura. Because a lot of Madurese keris with luks have similar pamor style and iron. Or maybe we can just call it East Java to be safe - because Madura is geographically in East Java.

[A. G. Maisey]

Nothing much to add to what has already been wriiten, just a few comments:-

1) I doubt that Pamekesan ever had a kraton, its status is as a Kabupaten, a regency, I'm not all that familiar with the history of Pamekasan, but I believe that it never had a Sultan, nor a Sunan, it was always under the ultimate control of Sumenep, which was a Sultanate. It might have had an Istana, ie, palace, where the Bupati (regent) lived, but if no Sultan or Sunan, it could not have had a Kraton.

2) dress is Central Jawa, Solo style

3) not tilam upih, but as YS has said, brojol

4) the "upe" spelling is perfectly understandable, a non-native speaker hearing the word could easily give it that spelling, as could a poorly educated native speaker --- I get emails frequently from several people in Solo who left school before they entered high school, and writing in both Javanese & BI their spellings sometimes do take a bit of effort to understand.

5) I'm of a like mind with Rasdan on blade origin, I would give this blade as Madura without a second though --- if I did have a second thought I might give it as East Jawa, thus including Madura, but throwing the net wider. Pamor ngulit semangko --- kulit semangka --- and a couple of other alternate spellings.

Edit

I think you might be right about Tuban Jaga, that gonjo looks very much like it could be nguceng mati.

[David]

I don't have much to add here either, except to say that i find it to be an attractive keris. Can you show us a photo from above showing the fit to the sheath. I am curious to know if this East Jawa blade Solo sheath was made specifically for this blade. Thanks!