rare keris for comment

[semar]

hello i have buy this keris but i don`t know region of the keris and the name of the wrangka it looks very old

thanks semar

[A. G. Maisey]

I've never seen a wrongko exactly like this, but I have seen a similar one that was attributed to the north coast of Jawa, possibly Cirebon, or maybe Pekalongan---I forget.

The handle is also a bit outside familiar styles, but from the photos it seems to resemble a style from South Sumatra.

[ronpakis]

i believe there is an example in the book from van duuren with al the literature references in it. imho this is not the real thing, perhaps older but looks a bit touristic. not the same esthetics as in the book.

greetings ron

[David]

Yes, the wrongko style is similar to the one on page 145 of van Duuren's Krisses: a critical Bibliography, but this example seems of much lesser quality and not as old. I agree that this might be an attempt at a recreation of that style. I certainly have seen others like it for sale in the past.
Van Duuren places the origin of his example as Ceribon (north Jawa). I agree with Alan that Semar's hilt looks like a variation on a well know Sumatran style. Given that both the hilt and wrongko appear to be of the same wood and age i am not sure then exactly where we can say the origins of this dress are from.
Does the dress appear to be made for this blade?

[PenangsangII]

Maybe the mendak shouldnt be there, instead Palembang style pendokok would be more appropriate.

Due to cultural and trade commercial between Java and Sumatra in the past, it's quite normal to see Javanese blade ended up in Sumatran dress.

[semar]

thank ron pakis for your comment but when its look older how can you say its not the real thing ???????

gr semar