WHICH SUNDANG?

[ganjawulung]

Dear All,

This old blade has been in my collection for almost one year. But it is still doubtful for me to say that it is a sundang. The type of "greneng" (I don't think this is the right term for it) is suspicious... If it is a sundang, then which sundang? Moro? Malay? Fake sundang?

The sheath is suspicious too... It should not be the original one.

GANJAWULUNG

[ganjawulung]

And not the original sheath, I think...

[PenangsangII]

Pak Ganja, how long is the blade? and does the blade fit in nicely into the blade?
From my limited experience, this confusing mixture of keris or sundangs pamor, ricikan, wrangka and hilt can be attributed to Kalimantan/Borneo whereby there were a lot of cultural mixture among the locals, Jawanese, Buginese and Sumatrans....

[rasdan]

Pak Ganja,

I am sorry, but I think this is a new sundang. The iron looks like it had been artificially aged. I had never seen a genuinely old sundang with this kind of iron. But this is just my blind guess. I hope i am wrong..

Just to add a bit, a few years back, i was shown by a relative their familiy's pusaka sundang. Everything looks Malay, but the greneng looks more towards Moro side. I guess, Malay sundang also uses Moro greneng..

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by PenangsangII

Pak Ganja, how long is the blade? and does the blade fit in nicely into the blade?
From my limited experience, this confusing mixture of keris or sundangs pamor, ricikan, wrangka and hilt can be attributed to Kalimantan/Borneo whereby there were a lot of cultural mixture among the locals, Jawanese, Buginese and Sumatrans....

It is 52 cm long (not including the square tang, or pesi), and the tang is 7 cm. I don't even bother the type of warangka and the hilt, because it could be changed at anytime. But anyway, thank you for the valuable information you gave...

Originally Posted by rasdan

Pak Ganja,
I am sorry, but I think this is a new sundang. The iron looks like it had been artificially aged. I had never seen a genuinely old sundang with this kind of iron. But this is just my blind guess. I hope i am wrong..

Just to add a bit, a few years back, i was shown by a relative their familiy's pusaka sundang. Everything looks Malay, but the greneng looks more towards Moro side. I guess, Malay sundang also uses Moro greneng..

Thank you Rasdan, for your comment. But still it is not convincing for me to regard this as newly made sundang and it was artificially aged. Because one of my 'first lesson in keris' couple years back, is "learning how to age a new keris, to look older" in order not to be cheated by my 'bakoel' (dealer) friends. Once you learn this lesson, you won't be easily cheated by nasty dealers...

From cleaning blades experience -- with coconut's husk, and then "mutih" (whiten) the blade with lime-juice and cream-soap or whatever -- you may learn too to differ which blade is newly made and which is old...

Anyway, thanks a lot for the comments...

GANJAWULUNG

[rasdan]

No problem Pak Ganja. It is just my guess. It is good to know that you had learnt the ageing technique. I only know salt & sulphur and natural rusting. What i know is, if the blade is made of wrought iron, the combination of the above ageing methods would be enough to make blades look old. It is just that we have to be patient with the natural rusting process. One year of sun and rain, the blade would look rather antique.

Perhaps you can enlighten us here on how artificial aging is being done?

I also attached a picture of a sundang tang that supposedly had been aged. Unfortunately i don't know the ageing technique used. This sundang is probably from Madura. The ageing pattern is very convincing.

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by rasdan

I only know salt & sulphur and natural rusting. What i know is, if the blade is made of wrought iron, the combination of the above ageing methods would be enough to make blades look old. It is just that we have to be patient with the natural rusting process. One year of sun and rain, the blade would look rather antique.

Perhaps you can enlighten us here on how artificial aging is being done?

I also attached a picture of a sundang tang that supposedly had been aged. Unfortunately i don't know the ageing technique used. This sundang is probably from Madura. The ageing pattern is very convincing.

The most common technique by my Maduran friends -- at least once or twice I practice just to know how -- is "kamalan" (technique of ageing new blade) with crushed red brick (for laying the keris in a certain place, like "blandongan"), wetted by not too-much watter and mixed with about a cup of crushed sulphur and three spoonful of salt... Submerge the new blade in the crushed-red-brick-sulphur-salt for (it depends the result) one night. Then clean with cream soap, and submerge in citroen liquid (I don't know the english word) to clean the blade. Then directly "mutih" (whithen) the blade... Before warangan.

But of course, not as simple as that. And not simple to explain. You must practice yourself...

Originally Posted by kai

It's certainly a keris sundang - I'm not convinced that it's antique though. My first thought was that this may have come from a pande Jawa, or probably be a Madurese creation.

The blade is not Moro (laminations and scroll work are off). Any pic of the blade tip?Kai

Dear Kai, later at home I will post the more close up. I am still in office...

GANJAWULUNG

[kai]

Hello Pak Ganja,

It's certainly a keris sundang - I'm not convinced that it's antique though. My first thought was that this may have come from a pande Jawa, or probably be a Madurese creation.

The blade is not Moro (laminations and scroll work are off). Any pic of the blade tip?

From cleaning blades experience -- with coconut's husk, and then "mutih" (whiten) the blade with lime-juice and cream-soap or whatever -- you may learn too to differ which blade is newly made and which is old...

Has the blade been hardened? Could it have been forged from old steel?

AFAIK sundang blades were kept smooth (like keris Bali) in all ethnic groups with a keris sundang tradition. Possibly Rasdan was referring to the obviously Javanese surface treatment?

I don't even bother the type of warangka and the hilt, because it could be changed at anytime.

I'm fairly sure the scabbard is a replacement done on Java/Madura. Can you narrow down it's age from craftmanship and material?

Regards,
Kai

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by kai

I'm fairly sure the scabbard is a replacement done on Java/Madura. Can you narrow down it's age from craftmanship and material?
Regards,
Kai

Me too, Kai, I'm pretty sure this scabbard is a replacement, maybe much later. The craftmanship, it is more central javanese scabbard than maduran. Not too old "timoho" (kleinhovia hospita) wood... You may see the bottom of the blade too (from the picture), that the form of "sirah cecak" (bottom face of the ganja) is not typically javanese. You may compare with any javanese "sirah cecak"...

Originally Posted by rasdan

I think this method would give with different effect/result with different iron. Anyhow, thanks again for your kind explanation.

Yes, totally agree Rasdan. You must extra carefully monitor the result of ageing, time to time, in order the blade not to be totally corroded by the "kamalan".

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Here are a few questions.
1)--- what style is followed by the ricikan of this blade?
2)--- is the erosion of the greneng in harmony with the erosion shown between pamor and the steel core?
3)--- what method was used to produce the greneng?
4)--- does filler exist between the gonjo and the blade?
5)--- where do we find this particular pamor very frequently used?
6)--- why do we find this blade in a poorly made Javanese scabbard and with a pedang handle?
The answers to these questions may assist in a determination of exactly what we are looking at here.
Pity we don't have a time machine.

Thanks for guiding this discussion in positive way, Alan. All I can answer is just speculation. I think this 'sundang' is mistreated in the past, maybe by the former owner or dealer. They treated the sundang as if they treated javanese blade -- they "mutih" the blade, and soaked the blade to warangan liquid, and made the blade corroded. Most sundang I've seen in Jawa was treated like this -- corroded by kamalan, before being soaked into warangan. The mistreatment also happen in almost every Sumatran keris in Jawa -- treated like javanese blades, and being soaked into warangan...