Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 28th June 2011, 01:04 PM

Michael, in about 1984 I was introduced to a gentleman in Jogjakarta. He lived in a kampung off Jln. Wates, about 2 or 3 kilometers from the post office. He came from a very old family of m'ranggis, his forebears had all been involved in the keris trade in one way or another, and his younger brother was dealer.

I needed to be introduced to this man, because he would not deal with the public, he would only deal with or work for somebody who was recognised by one of his existing customers as a serious dealer. I was introduced by a tukang wrongko who was doing a lot of work for me, he was not a customer of this gentleman, but he knew him, because my tukang wrongko's grandfather had taught this gentleman to whom I was introduced a number of skills.

This man was making and altering keris for many years, long before Djeno and his brothers were activated again by Dietrich, however, this was something that he kept very secret, because it was worth a lot more to him as a secret that was only available to certain dealers than it was to go public.

But his skills did not stop at blade work. He was able to do anything in any metal. His embossed pendok were arguably the finest embossed pendok ever produced. Some of his work was rather kasar, especially the things that he did for the Bali trade, and for Surabaya. Surabaya is important in the keris trade, because Surabaya is the doorway for the Madura trade.

This style of selut was produced by this man in quite considerable quantities, and they were sold in both Pasar Beringhardjo in Jogja, and Pasar Turi in Surabaya.

I cannot claim that every one of this type of selut that was ever made was produced by him, but he did produce a very great number of them. I have seen many of these seluts fitted to Jogja hilts, and a very few fitted to other Javanese hilts. I was never told that it was so, but I have the gut feeling that very probably somebody in his family before him was also producing these seluts, as he had a lot of very old, imperfect ones in his stock drawers.

A favourite practice of dealers in Jawa is to try to up the bling factor of keris before offering for sale. An easy way to do this is to stick a gilded brass selut onto a hilt --- cost is minimal, bling factor is high. This is not something new, its been going on for many, many years. For as long as people who know and understand nothing about keris have been buying keris.

It does not surprise me in even the slightest degree that you have seen a number of examples of this selut spread across the world. I also have seen multiple examples of laughably incorrect keris in photographs of famous collections of both individuals and museums. I have come to realise that this incorrectness is the norm, rather than some sort of anomaly.

The gentleman who produced these selut passed away about 12 years ago. He suffered a stroke, finished up in a wheelchair and slowly withered. There wasn't all that much of him to begin with. He had two children, a son and a daughter. His daughter went to university and is a public servant. His son was bone lazy and useless and has spent his life playing with pigeons. The gentleman about whom I have written was the last of his line.

So, I guess the question is:- are selut of this type a correct and original part of Madura keris dress?

Based upon what I know, and upon what I have seen, it is my opinion that they are something intended to facilitate sale to people from outside the Madura community.

28th June 2011, 01:04 PM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Michael, in about 1984 I was introduced to a gentleman in Jogjakarta. He lived in a kampung off Jln. Wates, about 2 or 3 kilometers from the post office. He came from a very old family of m'ranggis, his forebears had all been involved in the keris trade in one way or another, and his younger brother was dealer. I needed to be introduced to this man, because he would not deal with the public, he would only deal with or work for somebody who was recognised by one of his existing customers as a serious dealer. I was introduced by a tukang wrongko who was doing a lot of work for me, he was not a customer of this gentleman, but he knew him, because my tukang wrongko's grandfather had taught this gentleman to whom I was introduced a number of skills. This man was making and altering keris for many years, long before Djeno and his brothers were activated again by Dietrich, however, this was something that he kept very secret, because it was worth a lot more to him as a secret that was only available to certain dealers than it was to go public. But his skills did not stop at blade work. He was able to do anything in any metal. His embossed pendok were arguably the finest embossed pendok ever produced. Some of his work was rather kasar, especially the things that he did for the Bali trade, and for Surabaya. Surabaya is important in the keris trade, because Surabaya is the doorway for the Madura trade. This style of selut was produced by this man in quite considerable quantities, and they were sold in both Pasar Beringhardjo in Jogja, and Pasar Turi in Surabaya. I cannot claim that every one of this type of selut that was ever made was produced by him, but he did produce a very great number of them. I have seen many of these seluts fitted to Jogja hilts, and a very few fitted to other Javanese hilts. I was never told that it was so, but I have the gut feeling that very probably somebody in his family before him was also producing these seluts, as he had a lot of very old, imperfect ones in his stock drawers. A favourite practice of dealers in Jawa is to try to up the bling factor of keris before offering for sale. An easy way to do this is to stick a gilded brass selut onto a hilt --- cost is minimal, bling factor is high. This is not something new, its been going on for many, many years. For as long as people who know and understand nothing about keris have been buying keris. It does not surprise me in even the slightest degree that you have seen a number of examples of this selut spread across the world. I also have seen multiple examples of laughably incorrect keris in photographs of famous collections of both individuals and museums. I have come to realise that this incorrectness is the norm, rather than some sort of anomaly. The gentleman who produced these selut passed away about 12 years ago. He suffered a stroke, finished up in a wheelchair and slowly withered. There wasn't all that much of him to begin with. He had two children, a son and a daughter. His daughter went to university and is a public servant. His son was bone lazy and useless and has spent his life playing with pigeons. The gentleman about whom I have written was the last of his line. So, I guess the question is:- are selut of this type a correct and original part of Madura keris dress? Based upon what I know, and upon what I have seen, it is my opinion that they are something intended to facilitate sale to people from outside the Madura community.