[A. G. Maisey]

This is not an opinion, as I previously advised, I am unable to form one, so all I'm doing here is commenting, the comments are not directed at this item under discussion, but might perhaps be considered by those who have an interest in this item & the auctioneer's description.

Dhapur Panji Penganten is a very recent dhapur, according to Karaton Surakarta records, it came into existence during the reign of Pakubuwana IX, who held the throne from 1861 to 1893. The original form of the gandhik used in a Panji Penganten keris was two inward facing , conventional, kembang kacang. The abstracted form, where the two conventional kembang kacang are represented by a keyhole-like cutout, was a much later development that might have occurred in late colonial times, but which most people believe did not exist before the 1980's at earliest.

A primary identifying characteristic of the Javanese and Balinese keris, where it exists, is the form of the greneng, most especially the form of the ron dha, in Hindu belief the ron dha can be understood as the shortest mantra, "Aum" or "Oom", in Islamic belief it can be understood as "Allah". It is essential that where a ron dha is cut into a greneng, that ron dha should be cut to the form that applied in the time and place from which the keris originates. This is particularly so with keris that have a regal association. In recent keris this cultural tradition has become diluted, and sometimes a craftsman will produce a keris as a work of art, rather than a keris that can be accepted as culturally correct. This concept of "art for arts sake" is something that has only recently arisen in the World of the Keris.

It is very unusual for any keris that bears kinatah on the sides of the gonjo to be kept in a scabbard that will abrade the gold work every time the blade is removed from & replaced in the scabbard. Metal surrounding the scabbard mouth will damage gold work on a gonjo's sides very, very quickly.

In any case, even if a blade with kinatah is kept in a scabbard made of one of the softer woods, say, something like sandalwood, that kinatah will be gradually worn away, even with the very highest degree of care. This is the reason that when we describe an old keris with kinatah work, we normally provide a percentage estimate of the remaining kinatah work.

The "tunggak semi" hilt came into existence with the partition of Jawa in 1755. Its forerunner was a planar hilt developed in the Court of Demak which existed for less than 100 years, from about 1475 to 1554. Very early keris hilts were usually in the form of demons, deities & ancestor figures.

In Solo there used to be a very highly respected authority on Javanese art, he was most particularly interested in the keris, and he had an international reputation. He had very close links with both the Surakarta Karaton & with the President & Government of Indonesia. During the 1960's, & through into the 1990's this man was regarded as the font of all knowledge relating to the keris. He was the ultimate in experts. He was very well known in the Javanese dealer community as a ready buyer of quality keris & other quality tosan aji.

Within the Javanese dealer community there was a small group of craftsmen, artisans and dealers who focussed on producing very high quality keris of very unusual types, often types that had never previously existed, when it came time to sell these immaculate productions of fantasy, the prime target of these less than traditional keris was almost invariably the man mentioned in the previous paragraph. He was well known for paying very well for any quality keris of a form or type that he had never previously encountered.

One of the deceptive practices of Javanese dealers, & perhaps some other dealers, is to mate old, damaged scabbards to much more recent blades. There are a number of ways in which this can be done, including the making of a blade specifically to fit an existing scabbard. This practice can sometimes be a genuine reuse of an existing scabbard, especially where the scabbard is collectable or valuable in its own right, or where a man can afford a new keris, but not new dress for it. However, where a high value item is being produced for sale into the collector market, it becomes worthwhile for the fraudster to pull out all stops and produce something that will deceive even experts.

Am I cynical?

Yes.