Balinese Keris for consideration/comment

vogan · 12th February 2014, 04:22 AM

Thank you David for being the first to jump in and offer an opinion.
Thank you Alan for the information.
As you have said in these pages, education costs money,
and had I the benefit of your observations- I think I might have passed on this offering…
Am I reading too much into your remarks by inferring that: “a surface manipulated pamor” can be misleading,
a contrivance, perhaps, by a less skilled smith or artificer which, if not actually calculated to mislead, layers an inauthentic veneer of “complexity” atop an otherwise pedestrian offering?
And given that the wrongko was very likely bought by the prospective EBAY seller or supplier to such, from amongst a pile of varying new made wrongkos, and fitted without the benefit of an attempt to tailor one to the other, so that if the wrongko fits (sort of), let any keris wear it?
That too, renders the ensemble, like a mismatched suit, altogether somehow unsatisfying, something I was really not seeing until your remarks sharpened my critical focus.
I am sorry to have repeated the seller’s misattribution to Bali, something I probably would have repeated anyway, having often seen keris for sale listed as Bali /Lombok, as though the productions of both regions were best conflated without attempting to map out some distinctions. I think I get the point about naming the pamor in this instance…
the fact that it does not conform to traditional norms de-legitimizes the exercise in my opinion.
My only regret is that money misspent on a contrivance might have bought me a very nice and profusely illustrated reference work that I had been eyeing for a good while but written off as too expensive…

12th February 2014, 04:22 AM	#5
vogan Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 10	Follow up to David and Alan Thank you David for being the first to jump in and offer an opinion. Thank you Alan for the information. As you have said in these pages, education costs money, and had I the benefit of your observations- I think I might have passed on this offering… Am I reading too much into your remarks by inferring that: “a surface manipulated pamor” can be misleading, a contrivance, perhaps, by a less skilled smith or artificer which, if not actually calculated to mislead, layers an inauthentic veneer of “complexity” atop an otherwise pedestrian offering? And given that the wrongko was very likely bought by the prospective EBAY seller or supplier to such, from amongst a pile of varying new made wrongkos, and fitted without the benefit of an attempt to tailor one to the other, so that if the wrongko fits (sort of), let any keris wear it? That too, renders the ensemble, like a mismatched suit, altogether somehow unsatisfying, something I was really not seeing until your remarks sharpened my critical focus. I am sorry to have repeated the seller’s misattribution to Bali, something I probably would have repeated anyway, having often seen keris for sale listed as Bali /Lombok, as though the productions of both regions were best conflated without attempting to map out some distinctions. I think I get the point about naming the pamor in this instance… the fact that it does not conform to traditional norms de-legitimizes the exercise in my opinion. My only regret is that money misspent on a contrivance might have bought me a very nice and profusely illustrated reference work that I had been eyeing for a good while but written off as too expensive…