3 pellet wood Keris with beefy blades
 

I have noticed that a lot of these pellet wood Keris tend to come with beefy blades. Is that a fair observation or just my experience? Are these examples all from the same region and same general timeframe? The blades seem of different periods but all big beefy ones. (One is a real beast).

Here are some close up shots of the blades.

1). Very thick, heavier than other two and seems to have some real age to it.

2). Beefy blade with very fine pamor. The pattern is bold and active and almost reminds me of good wootz.(just in appearance. Of course it is not)

3). Beefy blade with good pamor.

The pictures did not post in the order I wanted them to but there are two if each blade and I think you can piece them together.

When you say beefy, are you referring to their size or weight (or both)?

These look like nice old keris. All are pretty pedestrian quality, the sort of thing an ordinary person would have owned, but they seem to be well preserved and nicely representative.

I would place all the dress as East Jawa. Some would want to put it into Madura, others would run it a little to the west of Surabaya. To my mind this is not a sensible thing to do because this entire area overlaps, there really are no hard & fast boundaries. Madura should always be thought of as East Jawa, just a different part of East Jawa, same as we differentiate between different areas in Central Jawa.

The big beefy blade displays a mixture of pure Tuban and Tuban-Pajajaran characteristics. In essence it is a North Coast blade and fits nicely into the Tuban framework. It would be a good idea to get rid of the ivory? metuk and replace it with a North Coast/Maduro mendak.

The other two blades I would be inclined to place into East Jawa/Maduro. The keris with the red stone mendak displays Mataram influence but I most sincerely doubt it is Mataram, I would need to handle it to form a firm opinion.

The mendak with red plastic? stone should be got rid of and replaced with a recent mendak.

Incidentally, its "pelet", not "pellet".

When I say beefy I am referring both to the length and the weight.

Thank you Alan for the feedback and information. Have made a note about the proper spelling for pelet.

I'll add this to the mix. Also East Jawa/Madura. Sorry i don't currently have any photos of the entire sheath, but this beautiful pelet pattern extends all the way down the stem and is perhaps one of the prettiest examples i have seen.
I won't be showing the old blade here, but it is not at all beefy and is just about 13 1/2 inches long.

Hello Yuuzan,
A typical specimen of beefy blade from the pesisir (47.5 cm long excluding the pesi) in comparison to a standard one from East Java (36 cm long).
Regards

David, the wood in that wrongko is awar-awar.

The word "pelet" actually has magical connotations and is usually applied to timoho, but some people could stretch it to awar-awar.

Awar-awar is a "good-time" wood. It used to chosen for wrongkos that were specifically intended for wear at festive occasions.

Thanks for the correction Alan. It was formally my understanding that pelet referred to the occurrence of black lines forming patterns in the wood caused by a fungus.
I find it interesting, given your description, that a gayaman sheath would be carved in a wood usually intended for special festive occasions.

What you have said is correct David, when we talk about kayu pelet, it is normally wood that has black markings on it, probably most usual is timoho, but the descriptor "pelet" can be given to other woods as well.

However, the word "pelet" really has nothing at all to do with wood. "Pelet" is a kind of magic that causes people to fall in love. A m'ranggi who came from a long line of m'ranggis told me that the idea of "kayu pelet" was that if a woman saw a man wearing a particularly beautiful wrongko that was distinguished by outstanding black grain patterns, she would fall in love with the wearer. When we talk about "kayu pelet" we are actually saying that the wood has the power to cause a woman to fall in love with the person wearing it.

Why would a gayaman not be worn at festive occasions? The most usual wrongko worn is the gayaman. Even in kraton society there are only (probably) six occasions when ladrangan wear is essential. I've said "probably" Because although I've heard this 6 occasions thing a lot of times, nobody seems to be able to name those six essential occasions. The usual wrongko is the gayam. I did not say "special festive occasions", I said festive occasions, and that could be a grandchild's birthday party, or a nephew's graduation, or as a guest at a wedding. Any occasion where the aim is celebration and having a good time.

Ladrangs are a bit special.

Thanks Alan. Well, if nothing else, my particular sheath made ME fall in love with IT. The jury is still out on its effect on women. ;) :)

Many thanks, Jean.
The pasisir blade looks like it comes with a beautiful ukiran as well.

Yes, the hilt is old also and in wayang style from Tegal. These blades are not very refined but very impressive and I like them very much!
Regards