help in identifying keris
 

Dear friends;

First of all let me say how much I enjoy this forum!

I found this keris in a pawnshop here in town- I had to negotiate and wheedle for months before I managed to get them to release it (for an appropriate price) and meanwhile I had dreams of it- quite the story.

Please notice that the whole 'gajah' section is an elephant.

Can anyone tell me something about it?

Hello Montino,

This is, at least to my opinion, a rather recent central (surakarta?) javanese keris. Most of the fittings are of recent manufacture.

Handle/ukiran: these types of handles are ussualy not old, cut for the tourist
Mendak: new, but good quality (seperated little "balls") (recent ones often have these colours and often not seperated little "balls")
Wranka: painted for the tourists
Pendok: copper? could be old, i can't tell

The blade looks as if it has a very nice detailed pamor but i think that this is either an old blade made more atractive in recent times with an elephant or it's not to old. I think perhaps one of the other members can tell you more about this.

Hello all,

In this case, I agree with Ron Pakis that this keris and all is a real new and ussually for turist consume. But it have a good pamor and iron work, so that it look more old than the phisycal it self.

I tend to agree that this is a recent keris. The paintinting is certainly late 20thC and seems a bit untraditional in design. The hilt, however, does seem to show a nice patina and i wonder if it might have at least a bit of age to it. It seems to depict a wayang character. It's hard to tell from your pictures, but it looks as if the nose might have been broken and then repaired. Given the wayang motif and the obvious abuse the dress has seen i wonder if this keris might have been for use in the wayang plays. I find the term "tourist keris" it be used all too often. It is very possible that this keris was meant for export sale, but the word tourist implies too many things that this keris is not. As has been remarked, the metal work is not too bad. The quality of the hilt carving also appears to be pretty good. The mendak, though probably recent, is a much higher quality than one can sometimes see on much nicer keris. It looks like a blue enamel if i'm not mistaken. I see these enamel mendaks rarely. It is also possible that all these elements were collected and assembled to create an ensemble for export sale. Does the sheath fit the blade perfectly like it was made for it? If it does it would not be so quick to deny that this keris may have served some ethnographic purpose such as being a wayang prop.

Hello,
the wayang figure of the ukiran is Petruk, one of the punakawan (group of "mystical clowns" in the Javanese wayang purwa).

Pictures and descriptions of the usual gang of four:
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesia.../punakawan.htm

Jan

Here is a pic of the keris in the scabbard; it looks like a perfect fit, as the bishop said to the actress.

Also, the painting looks to me like fine quality; I have seen 'tourist' painted wrangka, and they look very crude to me.

I'm also interested in the character that is painted on the side of the wrangka. Anyone know who that is?

Thank you so much for your free sharing of your knowledge.

I dont know about the blade, but the sheath looks like an older version. Tourist sheath has a uniform wide and longer shape but this one is different; it is more stocky. My hunch tells me this one is not so new but not too old either. The painting could be new.

Well, i'd say there is little doubt whether this sheath was made for the blade, it fits like a glove and the patterns on top of the wrongko fall just where they should with the gonjo extending to the borders of the scales pattern. It could, as Rasdan points out, have been painted anytime after being carved so it's hard to tell if it was the original intention for this sheath. Could you take some better photos of the hilt and of the face on the side of the sheath?