One of my favourite hilt forms
 

I want to start a thread about a hilt form from Madura, the so called janggelan hilt. I will share my collection of this hilt form with you by the hope that you will show your hilts of this form as well. I don't want to write much, only show the hilts one by one.

Here the first one from from ivory.

One from bone, difficult to take photos by flash because the white colour.

One from whale tooth or from dugong tooth.

A very simple one from deer horn.

A better one from deer horn.

Another one from animal tooth, whale or dugong, I don't know.

The best one in my opinion, very old, the pesi comes through in the back. A material I don't know, look like ivory but in a colour and texture I never have seen. You see the kissing lips? ;) :D

One from which remains only a fragment made from deer horn. But you still can see the high level of carving.

The last one, again animal tooth, very figural with nice patina.

Enjoy!! :D And I hope to see yours, maybe it become a very interesting viewing thread!

Interesting examples. What is the janggelan hilt supposed to represent?

I simple don't know. I have read somewhere that it shall represent the "tree of life" but I would take this very, very carefully. :shrug:

Janggelan leaves (mesona palustris), could live almost everywhere in villages in Java, mostly in Magetan, Ponorogo and Pacitan in East Java. People here, they are used to plant this plantations deliberately, sun-dry the janggelan leaves, then sell them to certain buyers – to be used as raw material to make “cincau hitam” (black jelly) which have special aroma and taste, to be laid out on the dishes with natural “es buah” (fruit cocktail drink).

Why did javanese keris people create “janggelan hilts”? That’s still a question. The nature of janggelan hilts in reality, usually they are simple ornamented, and reflected as a simple hilt, for simple pusakas such as old betok, sombro betok etc... Many of them are made and carved on bones, but some are carved on elephant’s ivory too...

GANJAWULUNG

Hello Jimmy,

thank you for this very intersting and informative explanation. I have eat already cincau hitam but don't know what is was made from. :eek:

Regards,

Detlef

Here you can see by the pesi holes that it is made from an animal tooth.

Sharing my only example.

I just realized that I had been complaining for a long time that I don't have an old Madurese keris when I had this for more than a few years... and its quite nice, IMHO. :D

Hello Kai Wee,

indeed a nice hilt.:) Elephant ivory?

Regards,

Detlef

I think its marine ivory. The shape of the hilt follows the natural form of the tusk.

Thanks Pak Jimmy for the info. I notice that there seems to be a head at the upper portion of the hilt. Some are obvious and others less obvious or hidden. What does that represents?

Sorry for the delay in joining this thread; I've had net problems.

Herewith a few more.

I'm not exactly sure where this hilt form stops and starts, I have a few more that are similar, but I feel outside the parameters for this form.

Alam Shah, I have noted two different head forms in this type of hilt:- a humanoid head, and a kakatua head. Sometimes when there is no distinct head the suggested form seems to be more kakatua than human.I would theorise that the human form of head is ancestral, and the kakatua associated with the world above.

Thanks Alan for the additional pictures. Agreed with your observations and theory. :) Surely there's a reason for these hilt forms, unfortunately, I do not know. :(

Maybe the reason is that the material has something hidden which needs to be revealed.

I've had this reason given to me a number of times by a number carvers.

So --- just maybe, at some unknown time in the past, a carver with imagination had the tip of a horn, and asked himself what he could create from it.

When we are dealing with art forms from a time and place that differs from our own, we need to be able to think in a way that also differs from 21st. century rational.

As 21st century rational thinkers we would identify the need, thus reason, and seek the material. People who think differently could have the material, and then seek the use, thus need, which provides reason.

Thank you for sharing, some nice examples. Here a few more in a group picture from a friend collector.

Seems we've diversified a bit, so I'm putting these up too. I do not regard these hilts as janggalan style. To me they are clearly kakatua.

But as I've said:- where does one type stop and another start?

Rather a twin (but different base ;) ).Probably the same carver...and material (?)

Some others (horn and ivory)

Few other specimens with various designs (ivory & deer horn).
Regards

BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLES AND THERE SEEMS TO BE QUITE A LOT OF VARIATION IN THE FORM. THE FIRST EXAMPLE AND SEVERAL OTHERS REMIND ME OF THE PINEAPPLE PATTERN.
TWO PICTURES OF SPERM WHALE TOOTH BASES. THE NATURAL BASE HAS A SHARP THIN SKIRT AND IS VERY PRONE TO START CRACKS WHEN THE TOOTH DRYS OUT. AN EXAMPLE OF A VICTORIAN SCRIMSHAWED TOOTH WITH THE SKIRT REMOVED AS IS USUAL FOR THE PERIOD. NOTE THE PATINA AND NUMBER OF CRACKS. PERHAPS IVORY HILTS ARE OILED ALONG WITH KERIS BLADES THUS PREVENTING SERIOUS CRACKS. IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO KEEP ALL IVORY LIGHTLY OILED AND MARINE IVORY IS ESPECIALLY PRONE TO DRYING OUT AND CRACKING IN DRY ENVIRONMENTS.

Here is my latest with a scorpion (spider?) threatening the bird.

Michael

I am very grateful for the photos posted by all of you.A marvelous collection