Newbie Question: Kinatah vs Sinarasah

JustYS · 11th April 2019, 09:02 AM

Dear All,

As the title said, I would like to know better about these 2 techniques of gold ornamentation for Keris.

By searching this forum I’ve found this explanation from Alan Maisey:

Kinatah is the Indonesian equivalent of koftgari and the most usual method of application of the gold is by a similar method, ie, carve the foundation for the ornamentation in relief and roughen the surface with chisel cuts, then apply the gold leaf. There are other less traditional and much less good methods.

Sinarasah involves making a hole in the blade. The bottom of the hole is wider than the top, gold is hammered into the hole and smoothed level with the blade surface. This is used for calligraphy mostly. Sometimes this method can be used as a sort of substitute for kinatah, when a big lump of gold is left proud of the blade surface, and then that lump of gold is carved.

From browsing several keris websites, I’ve found that the consensus is that Kinatah is considered as a SUPERIOR technique than Sinarasah but no further explanations provided.

Hence my questions are:

1. Why is Kinatah considered superior than Sinarasah? Is it because it is more difficult to do and the results are better?
2. How can you tell that the gold ornamentation found in Keris is the result of Kinatah or Sinarasah?

Thank you.

11th April 2019, 09:02 AM	#1
JustYS Member Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 138	Newbie Question: Kinatah vs Sinarasah Dear All, As the title said, I would like to know better about these 2 techniques of gold ornamentation for Keris. By searching this forum I’ve found this explanation from Alan Maisey: Kinatah is the Indonesian equivalent of koftgari and the most usual method of application of the gold is by a similar method, ie, carve the foundation for the ornamentation in relief and roughen the surface with chisel cuts, then apply the gold leaf. There are other less traditional and much less good methods. Sinarasah involves making a hole in the blade. The bottom of the hole is wider than the top, gold is hammered into the hole and smoothed level with the blade surface. This is used for calligraphy mostly. Sometimes this method can be used as a sort of substitute for kinatah, when a big lump of gold is left proud of the blade surface, and then that lump of gold is carved. From browsing several keris websites, I’ve found that the consensus is that Kinatah is considered as a SUPERIOR technique than Sinarasah but no further explanations provided. Hence my questions are: 1. Why is Kinatah considered superior than Sinarasah? Is it because it is more difficult to do and the results are better? 2. How can you tell that the gold ornamentation found in Keris is the result of Kinatah or Sinarasah? Thank you.