Balinese blade with pamor miring

A. G. Maisey · 27th February 2014, 04:22 AM

Henri, I have seen pamor miring in Bali blades, and in Bali-style Lombok blades, but I have not seen complex pamor miring in these blades, except in more recent blades.

The pamor in the blade shown is indeed a complex pamor.

Jean · 27th February 2014, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Henri, I have seen pamor miring in Bali blades, and in Bali-style Lombok blades, but I have not seen complex pamor miring in these blades, except in more recent blades.

The pamor in the blade shown is indeed a complex pamor.

Hello Alan,
The book Keris Bali Bersejarah from Neka Art Museum shows a number of blades with complex pamor miring (Ron Genduru, Lar Gangsir, Naga Rangsang, etc) but they all look recent indeed although it is not mentioned.... Do you know if they are made (or at least finished) in Bali or rather in Madura/ Java?
Regards

A. G. Maisey · 27th February 2014, 09:04 PM

Jean, in this context "know" is a dangerous word.

Based upon what I have been told there are a number of things I believe to be so, and a lesser number of things I know to be so.

The majority of keris in the Neka Musium are current era production, I know this because most of them have the names of the makers on the ID tags.

Most of these makers are from East Jawa, Central Jawa and Madura, a few are from Bali. In the "Keris Bali" book the Balinese people who are currently working are listed.

On display in the Neka Musium there are only a very, very small number of old blades, and from an artistic perspective these blades are really only pretty average.

Complex pamor miring is the product of refined pattern welding techniques and is extremely difficult to make well. In my opinion the current era smiths in Madura are amongst the very best pattern welders who have ever lived. They supply the bakalan to the carver, and except in rare cases, the pandai keris does not make the bakalan, he buys it, and then carves it.

Shock!!! Horror!!!

Nope. The idea of the lone empu meditating on top of a mountain and striking one blow with his hammer as the sun rose, and then carving the keris with his finger nails, has been dead for a thousand years. For at least the last several hundred years the empu has been the master and in only a very few cases has he managed the fire, held the hammer and then carved the bakalan. He has directed tradesmen smiths to do the hard work, and has used these tradesmen as tools.

When a Javanese says:- " I made this" , what he means is that he is responsible for its making, not necessarily that he struck the blow that made it reality.

I think most of us have heard of Empu Kinom? Mataram, 17th century.

Well, some years ago a gentleman in Solo did some calculations on how long Kinom would have had to live to make all the keris that were attributed to him. The resultant length of this famous empu's life was several thousand years. Kinom was a master, he had tradesmen working under him, essentially, he was "quality control".

Amongst the pandai-pandai keris who were a part of the "Anak-anak ASKI" (the keris makers in Surakarta who drove the movement in the early1980's) I know of only one who continued to do the entire making of a blade from fire to finish, through to the time of his retirement. The others were, and are, masters who direct. They knew how to both weld and carve, but if they continued to work, as soon as they could afford it, they employed others to do the hard work, they became quality control. When these masters did make a keris themselves, the price escalated exponentially, as did the quality.

I have a text book that was produced by a Surakarta Kraton empu around the end of the 19th century. In this book explicit instructions are given for what work each tradesman is permitted to do and to see. This was the way in which transference of knowledge was limited. In the making of a keris blade it is usual that a lot of workers are involved, but only the name of the empu or pandai keris is known and remembered.

Thus it is that the pattern welded bakalans produced in Madura are sold to makers who live in both Madura and other places.

In the case of current era Balinese keris, blades are forged and carved in Bali, this is certain. But it is also possible that bakalans are forged in Madura and then carved in Bali, or even made in Madura and then the details corrected in Bali.

Once the blade has been made there is really no way that anybody can actually "know" unless he has been party to the entire process, as to what a person believes, well, that's up to him.

henri · 27th February 2014, 11:14 PM

Interesting Alan .

That reminds me some great artist painters of the Italian Renaissance . For example much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was done by his employees like Leonardo da Vinci who collaborated with Verrocchio on most of his masterpieces .

Jean · 28th February 2014, 09:07 AM

Alan,
Very interesting post indeed and a well deserved tribute to the Madurese kris makers (smiths and carvers).
I wonder whether it could be recognized that the blade carving was made in Bali or elsewhere from the smooth balinese finish of the surface or not, what do you think?
Regards

Gustav · 28th February 2014, 12:42 PM

This is an old picture taken by Bernet Kempers supposedly in the 40-ties. It could be an East-Javanese Keris.

Interesting to compare the deepness of Ricikan-carvings: on Henri's example they are quite shallow, the maker feared to go through the layer of Pamor - exposed Slorok in Blumbangan and Sogokan wouldn't look good.

Ricikan-carvings on the Keris in B.K. picture are deeper; the picture isn't very good, so we don't see if the Pamor layer is completely intact. Yet we could expect it - the Pamor welding, forging and Ricikan-carving are done very well - please compare also the Pamor control at the last Luk.

A. G. Maisey · 2nd March 2014, 10:57 AM

Gustav, overall, that looks like a rather peculiar keris. My feeling is that here we might be looking at the Madura form that is associated with the failed Balinese invasion. But even then, that pendok with the slorok a la Jogja is a bit hard to swallow. I wonder where Bernet Kempers sourced this keris?

28th February 2014, 12:42 PM	#6
Gustav Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,273	This is an old picture taken by Bernet Kempers supposedly in the 40-ties. It could be an East-Javanese Keris. Interesting to compare the deepness of Ricikan-carvings: on Henri's example they are quite shallow, the maker feared to go through the layer of Pamor - exposed Slorok in Blumbangan and Sogokan wouldn't look good. Ricikan-carvings on the Keris in B.K. picture are deeper; the picture isn't very good, so we don't see if the Pamor layer is completely intact. Yet we could expect it - the Pamor welding, forging and Ricikan-carving are done very well - please compare also the Pamor control at the last Luk. Attached Images

27th February 2014, 04:22 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	Henri, I have seen pamor miring in Bali blades, and in Bali-style Lombok blades, but I have not seen complex pamor miring in these blades, except in more recent blades. The pamor in the blade shown is indeed a complex pamor.

27th February 2014, 09:04 PM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	Jean, in this context "know" is a dangerous word. Based upon what I have been told there are a number of things I believe to be so, and a lesser number of things I know to be so. The majority of keris in the Neka Musium are current era production, I know this because most of them have the names of the makers on the ID tags. Most of these makers are from East Jawa, Central Jawa and Madura, a few are from Bali. In the "Keris Bali" book the Balinese people who are currently working are listed. On display in the Neka Musium there are only a very, very small number of old blades, and from an artistic perspective these blades are really only pretty average. Complex pamor miring is the product of refined pattern welding techniques and is extremely difficult to make well. In my opinion the current era smiths in Madura are amongst the very best pattern welders who have ever lived. They supply the bakalan to the carver, and except in rare cases, the pandai keris does not make the bakalan, he buys it, and then carves it. Shock!!! Horror!!! Nope. The idea of the lone empu meditating on top of a mountain and striking one blow with his hammer as the sun rose, and then carving the keris with his finger nails, has been dead for a thousand years. For at least the last several hundred years the empu has been the master and in only a very few cases has he managed the fire, held the hammer and then carved the bakalan. He has directed tradesmen smiths to do the hard work, and has used these tradesmen as tools. When a Javanese says:- " I made this" , what he means is that he is responsible for its making, not necessarily that he struck the blow that made it reality. I think most of us have heard of Empu Kinom? Mataram, 17th century. Well, some years ago a gentleman in Solo did some calculations on how long Kinom would have had to live to make all the keris that were attributed to him. The resultant length of this famous empu's life was several thousand years. Kinom was a master, he had tradesmen working under him, essentially, he was "quality control". Amongst the pandai-pandai keris who were a part of the "Anak-anak ASKI" (the keris makers in Surakarta who drove the movement in the early1980's) I know of only one who continued to do the entire making of a blade from fire to finish, through to the time of his retirement. The others were, and are, masters who direct. They knew how to both weld and carve, but if they continued to work, as soon as they could afford it, they employed others to do the hard work, they became quality control. When these masters did make a keris themselves, the price escalated exponentially, as did the quality. I have a text book that was produced by a Surakarta Kraton empu around the end of the 19th century. In this book explicit instructions are given for what work each tradesman is permitted to do and to see. This was the way in which transference of knowledge was limited. In the making of a keris blade it is usual that a lot of workers are involved, but only the name of the empu or pandai keris is known and remembered. Thus it is that the pattern welded bakalans produced in Madura are sold to makers who live in both Madura and other places. In the case of current era Balinese keris, blades are forged and carved in Bali, this is certain. But it is also possible that bakalans are forged in Madura and then carved in Bali, or even made in Madura and then the details corrected in Bali. Once the blade has been made there is really no way that anybody can actually "know" unless he has been party to the entire process, as to what a person believes, well, that's up to him.

27th February 2014, 11:14 PM	#4
henri Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 81	Interesting Alan . That reminds me some great artist painters of the Italian Renaissance . For example much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was done by his employees like Leonardo da Vinci who collaborated with Verrocchio on most of his masterpieces .

28th February 2014, 09:07 AM	#5
Jean Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,740	Alan, Very interesting post indeed and a well deserved tribute to the Madurese kris makers (smiths and carvers). I wonder whether it could be recognized that the blade carving was made in Bali or elsewhere from the smooth balinese finish of the surface or not, what do you think? Regards

2nd March 2014, 10:57 AM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	Gustav, overall, that looks like a rather peculiar keris. My feeling is that here we might be looking at the Madura form that is associated with the failed Balinese invasion. But even then, that pendok with the slorok a la Jogja is a bit hard to swallow. I wonder where Bernet Kempers sourced this keris?