Keris lurus for comment and discussion

[jagabuwana]

Hi all,

Picked this up today, which is the first keris in my possession, and what may form the beginning of a modest collection.

• From what I can tell, it is dhapur brojol
• Quite long at around 45cm in length
• Blade labeled as "Javanese" in the antique shop. Though a hunch (which may be a worthless hunch, given my limited knowledge ) tells me it is not. Sumatran came to mind.
• The mendak is quite loose and looks like it's been squashed or kinda mangled. Are they supposed to rotate loosely or be quite firmly fitted?
• It wasn't sold with a sheath. Does anyone know much about the hulu? I thought it was Cirebon at first but now I think it might be quite recent work or modern motifs

I may be way off, but as always in here, happy to be wrong in the way of learning.

Cheers,

Novan

[jagabuwana]

another look at the dodgy mendak

[David]

A shame about that poor little mendak. But that is probably the easiest thing to replace on any keris.
Your handle is not particularly modern. It is an ornamental design common in Madura/East Jawa keris Madura is officially part of East Jawa). It seems to have some age and i would not be surprised if it were at least pre-WWII.
When you give your measurement as 45cm is that just the blade or are you including the hilt as well?

[jagabuwana]

Thanks for the information David - yes it does appear to be a Madura hulu
Also the length is just the blade, from the tip to the gonjo.

[A. G. Maisey]

The blade is old, better than fair, I'm almost certain that it will be Tuban classification (ie, Tangguh).

The hilt is Madura, Pamekesan Tumenggungan.

The Mendak is angkup randu, East Jawa/Madura.

It might be possible with patience and care to straighten the kinks out of the mendak, but if not, a replacement could be obtained.

This is a very nice keris as a first keris, it is virtually the same as the first keris I ever bought, about 64 years ago.

First step should be to clean up the hilt with a toothbrush, when all the dust is out of the carving, use a couple of drops of baby oil and hand rub it in.

Don't be in a rush to clean the blade, give it some oil and think about things for a while.

[Bjorn]

Congratulations on your first keris!
There's an incredible amount to learn about the keris, and by extension Indonesian history and society. The hilt you've shown is indeed of a common type, and it won't take you long at all to recognize the Madura style.

The previous comments have already addressed most of your questions.
As to the fit of a mendak, generally I would say it's not always a tight fit, but if it's of normal and even height (i.e. not squashed or otherwise compromised), it will fit snugly between the gonjo and ukiran. Often you'd still be able to rotate it, but the fit wouldn't be a loose one where the mendak will rotate by itself.

[jagabuwana]

Thank you Bjorn! All noted.

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The blade is old, better than fair, I'm almost certain that it will be Tuban classification (ie, Tangguh).

The hilt is Madura, Pamekesan Tumenggungan.

The Mendak is angkup randu, East Jawa/Madura.

It might be possible with patience and care to straighten the kinks out of the mendak, but if not, a replacement could be obtained.

This is a very nice keris as a first keris, it is virtually the same as the first keris I ever bought, about 64 years ago.

First step should be to clean up the hilt with a toothbrush, when all the dust is out of the carving, use a couple of drops of baby oil and hand rub it in.

Don't be in a rush to clean the blade, give it some oil and think about things for a while.

Thanks for the appraisal, Alan. I’m definitely pleased with it. I’ll be heeding your advice and not hurry to clean it - I think that is wise. I’ve oiled it and will take time to familiarise with it and vice versa. In absence of a sheath, I’ve loosely wrapped it in a square batik cloth. I became fixated on the wilah though, and forgot to clean the ukiran. I'll do so after work.

In previous posts of yours, I’ve noted that giving (unsure of the appropriate verb here) tangguh is difficult if not impossible to do using pictures alone. In this instance however you are almost certain that it would be tangguh Tuban (and I do understand that tangguh is the justifiable opinion of the knowledgeable appraiser). I'd be interested to know - what gives you such a strong indication in this case?