Odd or traditional selut for a Donoriko?

[VVV]

"Have a look at post #3 in this thread:-

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13989

here we have another donoriko that has been fitted with an incorrect selut, but have a look at how it has been fitted, now compare with the hilt we are discussing."

Alan's remark above on another thread (the hilt-selut combination of Sirek's keris enclosed below, pict. #1) reminded me to bring up this matter that has "disturbed" me for some time.
The first time I saw a Donoriko with this kind of hilt was at a Danish auction house several years ago and I laughed about it and believed it to be a local upgrade by a dealer or an enthusiastic collector. About a year after I saw the same combination at a dealer's shop in Paris and was a bit disturbed about it but thought that maybe two dealers had got the same idea. Some time later I saw it on eBay from a seller in Florida and this time I bought it for myself (see pict. #2).
A couple of years ago one of the Singapore or Malaysian collectors of this forum (Shahrial?) published pictures from a visit to the National Museum in KL with another example (see pict. #3). Thereafter I have seen it a few times in other collections and now on Sirek's keris in Holland too.
So when I read Alan's comment I agree in "taste". But after having seen it so many times and on keris distributed all over the world I find it hard to shrug it of as a dealer's combination.
Anybody else who has the same experience?

Michael

[Jean]

Hello Michael,
To me, selut specimens #2 & 3 do not seem original (they do not fit well) and they look low quality pieces from the pictures, but specimen # 1 is a different issue. Of course this is my personal and uncontrolled opinion only.
Best regards
Jean

[A. G. Maisey]

Michael, in about 1984 I was introduced to a gentleman in Jogjakarta. He lived in a kampung off Jln. Wates, about 2 or 3 kilometers from the post office. He came from a very old family of m'ranggis, his forebears had all been involved in the keris trade in one way or another, and his younger brother was dealer.

I needed to be introduced to this man, because he would not deal with the public, he would only deal with or work for somebody who was recognised by one of his existing customers as a serious dealer. I was introduced by a tukang wrongko who was doing a lot of work for me, he was not a customer of this gentleman, but he knew him, because my tukang wrongko's grandfather had taught this gentleman to whom I was introduced a number of skills.

This man was making and altering keris for many years, long before Djeno and his brothers were activated again by Dietrich, however, this was something that he kept very secret, because it was worth a lot more to him as a secret that was only available to certain dealers than it was to go public.

But his skills did not stop at blade work. He was able to do anything in any metal. His embossed pendok were arguably the finest embossed pendok ever produced. Some of his work was rather kasar, especially the things that he did for the Bali trade, and for Surabaya. Surabaya is important in the keris trade, because Surabaya is the doorway for the Madura trade.

This style of selut was produced by this man in quite considerable quantities, and they were sold in both Pasar Beringhardjo in Jogja, and Pasar Turi in Surabaya.

I cannot claim that every one of this type of selut that was ever made was produced by him, but he did produce a very great number of them. I have seen many of these seluts fitted to Jogja hilts, and a very few fitted to other Javanese hilts. I was never told that it was so, but I have the gut feeling that very probably somebody in his family before him was also producing these seluts, as he had a lot of very old, imperfect ones in his stock drawers.

A favourite practice of dealers in Jawa is to try to up the bling factor of keris before offering for sale. An easy way to do this is to stick a gilded brass selut onto a hilt --- cost is minimal, bling factor is high. This is not something new, its been going on for many, many years. For as long as people who know and understand nothing about keris have been buying keris.

It does not surprise me in even the slightest degree that you have seen a number of examples of this selut spread across the world. I also have seen multiple examples of laughably incorrect keris in photographs of famous collections of both individuals and museums. I have come to realise that this incorrectness is the norm, rather than some sort of anomaly.

The gentleman who produced these selut passed away about 12 years ago. He suffered a stroke, finished up in a wheelchair and slowly withered. There wasn't all that much of him to begin with. He had two children, a son and a daughter. His daughter went to university and is a public servant. His son was bone lazy and useless and has spent his life playing with pigeons. The gentleman about whom I have written was the last of his line.

So, I guess the question is:- are selut of this type a correct and original part of Madura keris dress?

Based upon what I know, and upon what I have seen, it is my opinion that they are something intended to facilitate sale to people from outside the Madura community.

[VVV]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

...snip

So, I guess the question is:- are selut of this type a correct and original part of Madura keris dress?

Based upon what I know, and upon what I have seen, it is my opinion that they are something intended to facilitate sale to people from outside the Madura community.

Thanks Alan!

That was what I was curious about, if it was a custom for locals or not to upgrade with this kind of selut. Somehow I suspected, after being exposed to this combination all over the world, that it was somebody close to the origin who did these upgrades, and not for instance a European dealer. Probably he wasn't the only one with this idea either based on how the market functions...

Michael

PS Jean, I agree on the fitting etc. but that wasn't my aim for this thread.

[sirek]

Now it is clear to me why a selut with Javanese / bali influences placed on a keris from Madura.

I found it a bit strange, because most people want to keep their keris original, so why add something to it?

thanks for the explanation

[asomotif]

Originally Posted by sirek

I found it a bit strange, because most people want to keep their keris original, so why add something to it?

Pfew ! with all respect for your very noble vision.
My feeling is that most western collectors want to pimp their keris to let it look like something it is not.

That the same thing is done in Indonesia does not surprise me.

Best regards,
Willem