Sumatran pedang for comment.

[Amuk Murugul]

Originally Posted by kai

Hullo AM,

Thanks for your comments!



However, this is clearly not a random pamor: this pattern is achieved only by intentional surface manipulation (i. e. boring holes and flattening the billet).

There also seem to be other examples of Sunda blades with "designed" pamor types. Are these just exceptions?

Regards,
Kai

Hullo Kai,

The view on pamor depends on what school one follows and also on how much of a purist one is. Generally, for the Soenda who were focused on spirituality, the end pamor was incidental, a gift from the gods and accepted as such. There is always the possibility that some people may have designed the pamor themselves.
Also, remember that the Soenda came under Mataram in the 17thC. Thus began 'pan-Djawa-ism' (the Tjaroeban/Tjirebon court became very much Djawa-oriented ; also Banten, but to a lesser degree; this is still so today). This was the time that Mataram awarded kerises as 'medals',resulting in greater creativity in keris-making and pamor-design.

To me, a non-random pamor tends to point more towards a post-16thC period. The quality of the blades also seems to have suffered somewhat as it approached modern times.

Best,

[kai]

Hullo AM,

Thanks for your response!

The view on pamor depends on what school one follows and also on how much of a purist one is. Generally, for the Soenda who were focused on spirituality, the end pamor was incidental, a gift from the gods and accepted as such.

Yup, I reckon that's the usual approach from a client's perspective.

Also, remember that the Soenda came under Mataram in the 17thC.

Seems the same influence can be seen in southern Sumatra, too...

To me, a non-random pamor tends to point more towards a post-16thC period.

Do you possibly have any Sunda examples with complex pamor from these earlier periods including Majapahit that you could kindly share? These seem to be very rare, indeed!

The quality of the blades also seems to have suffered somewhat as it approached modern times.

This seems to be a general trend throughout the archipelago (certainly with exceptions and different time-frames). Is it possible to delimit any corresponding periods for western Java?

BTW, any chance that the relatively early availability of European steel contributed to this? Any indications that there developed a split between "tool" blades from monosteel and more traditionally forged pusaka blades?

Regards,
Kai