Balinese Keris for consideration/comment

[David]

Vogan, i believe you are perhaps reading a bit too much between the lines in this case and i wouldn't throw this keris away just yet.
I will allow Alan to respond to your questions about "surface manipulated pamor" as i am certain he will do a much better job of it than i would. In regards to dress i believe Alan's point was that only the higher quality keris are likely to receive a "bespoken" wrongko due to the high cost involved in creating one. There are MANY levels of quality to be found in the keris world, from high royal court pieces down to the simplest village work. IMHO they are all collectible if you have an interest in keris culture and find an example that you like. High level court pieces can cost in the tens of THOUSANDS of dollars. It is no shame that you have not purchased one of those high level pieces in your first go at this on eBAY. In fact, you will NOT find such keris even for sale in that market. Most of our collections are, quite frankly, average level keris. Again, it comes back to the question, does the keris have character and do you like it. If you choose to dismiss all keris that do not conform to the highest levels of expectation you are not likely to build much of a collection.
As i stated before, this sheath appears to have some age to it and given that i would not assume that it was picked up in the market recently to be fitted in a rush by the eBay seller. A great many of us collectors no doubt have a number of keris in our collections with sheaths that are not "tailor fit" to the blades. It is fairly common to find.
On attribution, Bali and Lombok are often thrown together in descriptions. Bali ruled over Lombok for a time and there are a great many similarities to be found between keris from this region. Differences are often subtle and many times you might not be able to tell the difference between one or the other. No real failure on your part there.
Please understand that parts on a keris changing over time is to be expected. Wooden parts like sheaths and hilts wear out long before the blades and are replaced as keris pass from one owner to another. This is not a "contrivance", simply a reality. It is to be expected on any keris of considerable age. This does not mean that we don't sometimes see "dealer specials" that are thrown together with mix & match parts, but i don't think that is the case with your keris. I do still wonder about the age of the hilt, which may have been added by the seller, but it seems nicely made with good materials and visually matches the sheath nicely. I think it need to be turned about 90º around though.
Of course, if you are REALLY still regretting this purchase you can pack it up and send it to me. Not, it's not perfect, but very few things are. :-)

[Sajen]

Very good written David! And I am the second one who would like to take this keris to my own collection! Absolute nothing wrong with this keris!

Regards,

Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

Vogan, I once knew a woman who could read a story into a telephone book.

Your reading of my remarks would challenge her ability.

There is nothing wrong with your keris.

It is not special, but it is a good example of the type of thing it is. You can be quite comfortable in adding it to your collection. The hilt is very recent, but most experienced and discerning collectors do not reject any keris, nor any part of a keris, on the basis of age. The hilt is a correct type and suits the rest of the keris.

Ebay can be a very dangerous place to spend money on keris. You really need a lot of experience, a lot of patience, a lot of time and a lot of luck not to lose badly on ebay. However, that said, you haven't done too badly at all with this ebay purchase.

At the moment I'm pressed for time. I'll get back later with an explanation of what "surface manipulated pamor" means.

[DaveS]

I have to agree with everything that has already been said. I think it is a nice kris that is visually very pleasing what with the colors of the hilt matching the scabbard. The handle does need to be turned around though.........Dave.

[vogan]

David, thank you for your observations. Your point about keris dress is well taken. That is something I always found appealing in the collection of these objects- the ready acceptance that fittings were not necessarily, indeed seldom are, original to the blade.

As time goes by, I find that I value less and less my own subjective responses to the keris. And I tend to wallow in subjectivity due a lack of knowledge. Despite that, I have the utmost respect for the culture and people who produced such a fascinating weapon and cultural icon. The result is that I would prefer to be told, by someone steeped in the history and culture, that such and such keris is an honest production that conforms to traditional patterns and craftsmanship. Something a person brought up in that culture would appreciate and perhaps be pleased to own. That then becomes something I would like to acquire for my collection and wish to have some understanding of.

Alan, sorry to have parsed your words and lost the sense. I appreciate your time. And DaveS, Sajen, and David, thank you for your thoughts.

[A. G. Maisey]

OK. Ten minutes to spare before lunch.

Pamor.

Pamor is made by forge welding layers of contrasting material. This can be various types of iron, which is common in older blades, or in more recent blades by incorporating nickelous material along with ferric material to give a higher contrast.

The basic and most simple pamor pattern is wos wutah, which is layers of the contrasting materials.

By upsetting or manipulating the surface of the blade forging, after the pamor has been welded to the steel core, various patterns are created, which become clear when the blade is finished, examples being:- udan mas, bendo sagodo, wiji timun, & etc.

These are simple patterns that do not use a lot of material and do not take extreme skill nor extreme cost to create.

Other pamor patterns can be created by manipulation of the pamor forging in the fire, before it is welded to the steel core, but sometimes incorporating additional work after the steel core has been welded into place.

This manipulation in the forge involves twisting, re-folding, cutting and re-welding, in fact all sorts of variations on manipulating the material, usually at or close to weld heat, before the pamor billet is completed and before it is welded to the steel core.

These types of pamor require an extremely high degree of skill to create and use a lot of material through flaking of the billet during the process. Consequently these types of pamor are very much more expensive to create than the basic wos wutah, or the surface manipulated pamors that are all the result of further processing of wos wutah.

Wos wutah and the surface manipulated pamors are called "mlumah" pamors. Mlumah means "laying down", a reference to the layers of pamor laying in the same orientation as the core.

The other twisted, cut, refolded, rewelded complex pamors are called "miring" pamors, referring to the fact that the layers of pamor are set at an angle to the core.

"surface manipulated pamor" is not a derogatory term.

[Jean]

Hello Alan,
Excellent and very concise summary of the pamor making process!
Regards

[Jean]

Hello Vogan,
This style of pamor seems quite common in Lombok, see two other blades in my collection which look quite similar. According to the book from Djelenga I have identified this pamor style as Rante or Srante (chain) but other attributions could be given.
Best regards