Identify a Keris

[Ghostextechnica]

Hey there,

Hoping someone can help, a few years ago when my grandfather passed he left me a Keris I always admired as a young boy.

I don't have much detail at all - he apparently purchased it when he went traveling sometime after World War II.

Would love to know more!

Photos attached.

Many thanks!

[Sajen]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum. It's a Javanese keris from Solo (Surakarta), 9 luk blade.

Regards,
Detlef

[David]

Just to add to what Detlef has written, it is the gayaman (everyday) form of Surakarta dress. There is also that ladrang (formal) style.
"Luk" as Detlef wrote, refers to the number of waves. There is a specific way to count these and by that method we count 9 (both sides of the blade are counted).
I would also say that it is the dress (sheath and hilt forms) that is Surakarta. This appears to be village work to my eye, not the higher end spectrum to be found with members of court or wealthy merchants, and it is always difficult to place such keris in exacting geographical locations. Though certainly the blade could come from that time and place.This appears to be a keris made for common folk by the local smith. Probably 19th century. It is not in good stain (warangan) so it's difficult to say what pamor pattern the blade might have. Probably the common wos wutah, but the blade would need a warangan (arsenic and lime) treatment to bring out the pattern better to know for sure.

[A. G. Maisey]

David & Detlef are right on the mark, but I would be inclined to call this a Central Javanese keris, dressed in the style of Solo, this is only playing with words, but when we use "Surakarta" we are implying a degree of refinement. Surakarta Hadiningrat is the name of the Karaton, the "place of the Ratu", Ratu meaning "ruler", and Surakarta was established near the village of Solo.

A lot of Central Jawa comes under the influence of Solo and of the Surakarta Karaton.

This is a rather humble keris, but it has the potential to be brought to a good level of presentation. The hilt is too far gone for acceptable restoration, but the scabbard (wrongko) is really quite nice, it is not the normal everyday gayaman form, I'd need it in my hand to be definite, but from the photo it looks like a Gayaman Ladrang or possibly a Gayaman Kagok Bancihan. It looks as if it could come up pretty nice.

The pendok could be improved a bit, but really, its not too bad as it is.

The hilt and hilt ring (mendak) should be replaced.

The blade does have pamor wos wutah, but in a blade of this class it is likely to be pamor sanak, which means that the material used to create the pamor is various forms of ferric material, unlikely to be any nickel or high contrast material in this blade.

All in all, this is a pretty decent example of this class of keris, absolutely worth spending time on restoration, and absolutely worth a place in a collection.

[Ghostextechnica]

Thanks so much Detlef, David and A.G. Maisey!

Really, really appreciate the detailed comments - fantastic to know more about the Keris I've admired for so long.

I currently have it displayed on a wall in my home and I'm pretty tempted to merge some of your comments into a placard that explains the style and background (especially as I want to pass it down to my children some day).

Something like this?:

Central Javanese Keris (19th Century) - dressed in the style of Solo (Surakarta), 9 luk blade.

Completely makes sense that it's likely village work - my grandfather wasn't very wealthy but liked to travel to remote areas of the globe (comparative to where he lived) long before it became more common to be well travelled. Highly possible he purchased it from a village smith.

[David]

Hi Alan. Could you expand upon your identification of the wrongko as Gayaman Ladrang or possibly a Gayaman Kagok Bancihan. How do these forms of gayaman wrongko differ regarding form and place in cultural use. Thanks!