Sunggingans

drdavid · 27th April 2015, 10:16 PM

Alan, do we know how long sunggingan dress has been around. Is it a relatively modern thing (say the last 100 years) or does it go back further
cheers
David

A. G. Maisey · 27th April 2015, 10:53 PM

Sunggingan scabbards, and perhaps sunggingan hilts have been in use for a very long time, perhaps even from the very beginning.

There are examples of keris with sunggingan dress that pre-date 1700 in both the Dresden and Copenhagen collections. These are North Coast Jawa keris, and the nature of the ornamentation seems to owe much to a Chinese ancestry, however, when we consider that Javanese temples dating from the Early Classical Period were brightly painted, and that the keris seems to have had a religious association from the time of the appearance of its earliest forms, then we factor in the Javanese inclination for display, it is highly probable that even the earliest forms of keris had painted scabbards.

The word "sunggingan" simply means "painted decoration", but the use of this word, rather than the use of other words referring to paint or decoration, implies a form of decoration that is intricate and skilful.

I have not looked at Jensen's "Kris Disc" for a very long time, but I am sure that if we were to trawl through this we would find examples of early sunggingan dress.

S.Workman · 28th April 2015, 12:14 AM

Thats remarkable, so these painted ensembles show scenes of court activity, or are they depictions of myth or history?

A. G. Maisey · 28th April 2015, 01:03 AM

The motifs used on sunggingan keris scabbards cover a wide range of subjects, they can be traditional Javanese motifs that are used in other decorative art or craft, they can be wayang figures, or they can be purely abstract.

The motif on the scabbard I've shown has wayang figures, what they are doing I don't know, but somebody with a much better knowledge of the wayang than I have could perhaps guess.

The scabbard shown in this post has an alas-alasan (forest) motif, showing various animals.

28th April 2015, 01:03 AM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	The motifs used on sunggingan keris scabbards cover a wide range of subjects, they can be traditional Javanese motifs that are used in other decorative art or craft, they can be wayang figures, or they can be purely abstract. The motif on the scabbard I've shown has wayang figures, what they are doing I don't know, but somebody with a much better knowledge of the wayang than I have could perhaps guess. The scabbard shown in this post has an alas-alasan (forest) motif, showing various animals. Attached Images

27th April 2015, 10:16 PM	#1
drdavid Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 372	Alan, do we know how long sunggingan dress has been around. Is it a relatively modern thing (say the last 100 years) or does it go back further cheers David

27th April 2015, 10:53 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	Sunggingan scabbards, and perhaps sunggingan hilts have been in use for a very long time, perhaps even from the very beginning. There are examples of keris with sunggingan dress that pre-date 1700 in both the Dresden and Copenhagen collections. These are North Coast Jawa keris, and the nature of the ornamentation seems to owe much to a Chinese ancestry, however, when we consider that Javanese temples dating from the Early Classical Period were brightly painted, and that the keris seems to have had a religious association from the time of the appearance of its earliest forms, then we factor in the Javanese inclination for display, it is highly probable that even the earliest forms of keris had painted scabbards. The word "sunggingan" simply means "painted decoration", but the use of this word, rather than the use of other words referring to paint or decoration, implies a form of decoration that is intricate and skilful. I have not looked at Jensen's "Kris Disc" for a very long time, but I am sure that if we were to trawl through this we would find examples of early sunggingan dress.

28th April 2015, 12:14 AM	#3
S.Workman Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 116	Thats remarkable, so these painted ensembles show scenes of court activity, or are they depictions of myth or history?