tajung

BluErf · 31st December 2009, 04:31 PM

It's like this.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=tegal

Raja Mala is possibly the proto-form of the tajong, and it originates from Java. Tajong is N. Malayan. Hence, the implication is that the carver of this tajong is likely from Indonesia, and hence he should be carving the Indonesian form of the hilt - the Raja Mala form.

Anyhow, it is difficult for carvers from outside a culture to attain the 'air tangan' (roughly speaking, the subtle sense of aesthetics) of that culture. So these carvers would have a hard time fooling collectors who have been immersed in the art form. However, that said, most people do not belong to that category, so people do often get 'tricked' by these imposters.

And it is open knowledge that such forums are used to 'test water' for some of these works to see if they are good enough to 'pass'. As a collector who loves the tajong form, it is difficult - if we don't speak up, the 'wrong' form/imposters become accepted as the norm over time; if we challenge, we run the risks of enhancing the fakers' knowledge in coming up with better hilts. So maybe the compromise is to point out what looks suspicious, and leave it at that. More intimate knowledge would probably have to be passed to known collectors, privately.

31st December 2009, 04:31 PM	#11
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	It's like this. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=tegal Raja Mala is possibly the proto-form of the tajong, and it originates from Java. Tajong is N. Malayan. Hence, the implication is that the carver of this tajong is likely from Indonesia, and hence he should be carving the Indonesian form of the hilt - the Raja Mala form. Anyhow, it is difficult for carvers from outside a culture to attain the 'air tangan' (roughly speaking, the subtle sense of aesthetics) of that culture. So these carvers would have a hard time fooling collectors who have been immersed in the art form. However, that said, most people do not belong to that category, so people do often get 'tricked' by these imposters. And it is open knowledge that such forums are used to 'test water' for some of these works to see if they are good enough to 'pass'. As a collector who loves the tajong form, it is difficult - if we don't speak up, the 'wrong' form/imposters become accepted as the norm over time; if we challenge, we run the risks of enhancing the fakers' knowledge in coming up with better hilts. So maybe the compromise is to point out what looks suspicious, and leave it at that. More intimate knowledge would probably have to be passed to known collectors, privately.