Keris Singa Barong 1800s

[David]

Originally Posted by shadejoy

It is very difficult to verify just by looking at it. I was expecting to see an example or two of Kerises with Prambanan meteorite. I was wrong, there're none

However, thanks to the thread, I can confirm that there may be Kerises outside the court that contain meteorite. What I understand is, the Empu would have leftover meteorite from completing the Keris ordered by the court. Then the leftover would be used to make other Kerises which were ordered by people outside the court. But I assume the numbers of those type of Kerises are small.

But I truly love the philosophical value of Keris making in this regard: the meeting/marriage between heaven (meteorite) and earth (iron).

By the way, I am in need of your experience on this Dave. What have you heard of an Empu named Djiwo Dihardjo of Yogyakarta? He's quite renown. I spoke to him several weeks ago and he claims that he makes Keris containing meteorite. Should I be skeptical?

Peter, there is no reason at all to be skeptical of the Mpus claim. There are at least a couple of members of this forum who have also made keris using meteoric pamor. There is no doubt that it is possible to do. But this is the ONLY way to confirm the use of meteoric pamor, when one KNOWS for a fact that the material was used through first hand experience. Everything else is pretty much speculation or wishful thinking without confirmable provenance.
I do remember someone once remarking that palace Mpus used left over meteoric pamor material to make commissions for people outside the court. Perhaps you heard this story from the same person. I cannot confirm OR deny that claim and would be curious to know how you can confirm it yourself. I prefer to deal with confirmable facts whenever possible instead of speculation.
Everybody loves the idea of the marriage of heaven and earth, the concept of pamor from space metals melded with the iron of earth to create a magickal union in one's keris. I must admit it was one the very first legends of the keris that lured me into its grasp. And yes, there are obviously some very fine keris that have indeed use this material. The trouble is, which one? Perhaps there are a few royal keris that record the fact such pamor was used. If you would like to believe you have one of these you are free to believe so, but do understand that there is just no way to verify this as fact.
The keris has a long and storied history that began centuries before the Prambanan fall (mid 18th century). If you carefully read the thread i linked you should understand that there is no other historical record of any meteorite fall in the area previously or after Prambanan. Even so, iron/nickel bearing meteorites are even rarer than the usual rock meteorite so the Prambanan meteorite is something very rare and special. What's more, even some iron/nickel bearing meteorites fail to make workable pamor.
So please keep in mind that this idea of meteoric pamor is relatively new to the "philosophical value of Keris making." IMO it is a false flag in our appreciation and understanding of what makes a great keris. And since it's presence is completely unconfirmable without first hand knowledge it will forever be an elusive hope for the "holy grail" that can never be verified with any confidence.
However, you are free to believe whatever you wish.