Old Javanese keris for comment

[alexish]

Please comment on this Javanese Keris that appears to be old. The wrongko is pretty unusual. Any idea which part of Java this keris originate from?

[A. G. Maisey]

I do not know where this is from, what I do know is that it is mix of styles, but on the face of it, those styles seemed intended, as in, I doubt that this is a dealer's melange.

The blade is unremarkable, low quality work, but it does have a suggestion of Madura/East Jawa.

The top part of the scabbard (atasan, gambar) has a tendency towards Madura form, but it does not conform to any style that I have seen. I say that it leans to Madura because of those little bumps at each end --- some Madura ladrangs have a similar bump at one end, with the bump at the other end much less pronounced.

The pendok looks like Banyumas, but again, Madura pendoks sometimes have a lis (the little collar around the top), however, the motif is not like anything I would expect on a Madura pendok.

The mendak/selut looks like South Sumatera, but the scallops seem to have been aligned to the flat planes of the hilt, which is Central Javanese in style.

There is a tendency to drop things that we cannot clearly identify into a basket that nobody really knows the contents of, and there are a lot of towns and areas right across Jawa where people wore keris, but they were not under the direct influence of any kraton, so in these places styles can get a bit mixed up, or distorted.

But there is another place where people from over-populated Jawa and Madura went to settle and where they still wore keris, but when they made new dress for a keris they worked on memory and added enhancements that did not fit into the society from which they came.

That place was Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo.

This is a pure guess, as I said, I do not know where this keris is from, but I wonder if it might be able to be attributed to Kalimantan?

[Battara]

The selut looks suassa to me.

[A. G. Maisey]

I thought the same. but it does not look like an adaptation, it looks like it was made for this hilt.

[alexish]

Any comments on the Pendok - does it tend towards Solo or Jogja style?

I believe it is antique silver.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by alexish

Any comments on the Pendok - does it tend towards Solo or Jogja style?

I believe it is antique silver.

Hello Alexish,

Alan give already a hint towards Banyumas, Central Java. But for sure not Solo or Yogya IMVHO.

Regards,
Detlef

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The pendok looks like Banyumas, but again, Madura pendoks sometimes have a lis (the little collar around the top), however, the motif is not like anything I would expect on a Madura pendok.

Hello Alan,

would agree with you by the general style but is the top part not to much concave for a Banyumas pendok?

Regards,
Detlef