New Member, New Keris

A. G. Maisey · 25th November 2013, 08:11 PM

That's an easy one Jean.

These wrongkos definitely have no place in Solo.

A wrongko is not just a thing to put a keris in.

Since at least the first quarter of the 19th century a wrongko is an item of dress that had and has prescribed forms for defined wear.

In its function as an item of dress it doesn't even need to have a proper keris in it. I've seen wrongkos being worn with cut out pieces of tin in them, in place of a keris blade. Not even flat iron, but tin, like a piece of an oil container cut to shape. This is fairly common amongst poor people. I have even seen a piece of cardboard used to support the jejeran, instead of a keris blade.

As an item of dress, the keris itself doesn't matter much, it is the perception that the wearer has a keris of the proper type in the proper place that is important.

Odd shaped wrongkos have no place as items of dress.

I never saw Agus working on or with one of these calendar wrongkos.

In my opinion you can eliminate the possibility of this form of wrongko being used in Surakarta.

25th November 2013, 08:11 PM	#27
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,989	That's an easy one Jean. These wrongkos definitely have no place in Solo. A wrongko is not just a thing to put a keris in. Since at least the first quarter of the 19th century a wrongko is an item of dress that had and has prescribed forms for defined wear. In its function as an item of dress it doesn't even need to have a proper keris in it. I've seen wrongkos being worn with cut out pieces of tin in them, in place of a keris blade. Not even flat iron, but tin, like a piece of an oil container cut to shape. This is fairly common amongst poor people. I have even seen a piece of cardboard used to support the jejeran, instead of a keris blade. As an item of dress, the keris itself doesn't matter much, it is the perception that the wearer has a keris of the proper type in the proper place that is important. Odd shaped wrongkos have no place as items of dress. I never saw Agus working on or with one of these calendar wrongkos. In my opinion you can eliminate the possibility of this form of wrongko being used in Surakarta.