broken kembang kacang.

[ferrylaki]

I bougth this 11 luks keris a month ago.
It was very dirty and didnt show its pamor when I brought it home.
I made a choise since it has nice 11 luks. the seller told me it has broken kembang kacang. I paid Rp 150.000 ( US$16 )

I have some one cleaned and stained the keris, apparently he is not quite good on his job since you can still fine a number of rust on the blade and the pesi. and here it goes...
I have no idea whether this is a recent made or an old one.
The ganja is all black ( kelengan ) is it common? couse I do have a guess it is a new replacement ganja. I hope that I'm wrong.

What shoul I do with the kembang kacang?
some one told me to change the kembang kacang into a putut keris ... ( is it possible?)


or I should leave it like this...just the way it is. a keris with broken kembang kacang. I'm waiting for your suggestions...

regards,
FERRY

[David]

Well, personally i wouldn't change anything on this keris. It is an old worn blade and it is what it is. I would say that even in this condition it was well worth your $16 investment.
Don't know about the gonjo, but i was told that there have been certain periods when only court keris were allowed to have pamor, so it may not be so unusal that yours has none.

[ferrylaki]

Originally Posted by David

Well, personally i wouldn't change anything on this keris. It is an old worn blade and it is what it is. I would say that even in this condition it was well worth your $16 investment.
Don't know about the gonjo, but i was told that there have been certain periods when only court keris were allowed to have pamor, so it may not be so unusal that yours has none.

Thank you...
I've been studying keris for approx 1 year. from reading books and a observing a small numbers of kerises. I've try to make a comparison to the keris market, but sometimes I have a bad feeling about keris sellers. they often reshape a keris into a popular dapur. in order to fulfill tha market request.
But above all, by studying from the market I can make a little knowledge to differ the old keris from a new made that being treated/made to look old.

regards,
Ferry.

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by ferrylaki

The ganja is all black ( kelengan ) is it common? couse I do have a guess it is a new replacement ganja. I hope that I'm wrong.

What shoul I do with the kembang kacang?
some one told me to change the kembang kacang into a putut keris ... ( is it possible?)


or I should leave it like this...just the way it is. a keris with broken kembang kacang. I'm waiting for your suggestions...

regards,
FERRY

Your gonja is "ganjawulung type". Wulung, means black. Ganja with pamor, we called it as "ganjasekar". (Maybe good for my next nickname, hh?). What David said is right. The good, original court pusakas usually have "ganjasekar". Gonja with pamor, from the same material with the blade.

But, according to my humble knowledge, kerises with "original" ganjawulung, usually good kerises. According to some old keris people in Java, good keris with ganjawulung, even probably a "keris paringan nDalem" (keris, given by king in the past for a certain good reason). Of course, you ought not to blindly believe, that every keris with ganjawulung, always good kerises, keris paringan nDalem. Tricky strategy in "keris marketting", sometimes uses this "ganjawulung" tactics too, to get buyer.

It was said also, that "ganjawulung" in the past, used also to hide the "secret" behind the warangka. (I remember, Alan had said on this in other thread in the past). As you know, some keris owner sometimes have certain "hopes" via his kerises. So he choses certain type of pamor in accordance with his wish. Also chooses, the dhapur which is suitable for the wish...

But don't change the ganjawulung from your keris. Oh, no. It is better to keep it as it is...

Ganjawulung

[Henk]

A shame the rust wasn't removed completely before the treatment with warangan. Still the pamor came up very good.

Leave the blade as it is. Let this keris show his age. Don't try to hide it. Modification by making a putut will give it more a status of a resell object for tourists.

[ferrylaki]

Originally Posted by ganjawulung

Your gonja is "ganjawulung type". Wulung, means black. Ganja with pamor, we called it as "ganjasekar". (Maybe good for my next nickname, hh?). What David said is right. The good, original court pusakas usually have "ganjasekar". Gonja with pamor, from the same material with the blade.

But, according to my humble knowledge, kerises with "original" ganjawulung, usually good kerises. According to some old keris people in Java, good keris with ganjawulung, even probably a "keris paringan nDalem" (keris, given by king in the past for a certain good reason). Of course, you ought not to blindly believe, that every keris with ganjawulung, always good kerises, keris paringan nDalem. Tricky strategy in "keris marketting", sometimes uses this "ganjawulung" tactics too, to get buyer.

It was said also, that "ganjawulung" in the past, used also to hide the "secret" behind the warangka. (I remember, Alan had said on this in other thread in the past). As you know, some keris owner sometimes have certain "hopes" via his kerises. So he choses certain type of pamor in accordance with his wish. Also chooses, the dhapur which is suitable for the wish...

But don't change the ganjawulung from your keris. Oh, no. It is better to keep it as it is...

Ganjawulung

I always wondering what "GANJAWULUNG" means.

after I bought the keris, I try to find any information I could get for the internet. There are two sites which show similar keris with ganjawulung. both are sites belong to a man from Surabaya(east Java)
Here are the sites : http://keris.fotopic.net/p28263528.html
and http://gallerykeris.fotopic.net/c1393647.html

The keris shown in keris gallery also has a ganja similar to mine. which seem has a damage greneng. is the greneng intended to be that way or its just simply broken greneng?

The other thing I like from this keris is I can see the obvious layers on the blade and the distinguist colour between the iron and the pamor. I gonna use it as a reference on keris study with my young brother. he likes keris also.

I've order a nice sandalwood gayaman for the warangka and a newly made kemuning wood hilt. The problem here is the kemuning wood is too white/yellow in colour. I heard that people used to dip kemuning wood in to dark tea in order to make them darker. how long it would require to make it darker? a day?4 days? a week? I never try it any how.