Comment?

Bill M · 22nd November 2018, 07:21 PM

Thanks for Pakubuwono X

Beautiful! The X pattern looks familiar. Chatoyant, chiaroscuro.

Looks like the Same Empu as mine.

Enjoying being back on the Forum!

Rick · 22nd November 2018, 08:06 PM

Good to have you back Bill.

David · 22nd November 2018, 08:24 PM

I can't remember what the "X" pattern made in the pamor is called. Here is my example of it though.

A. G. Maisey · 22nd November 2018, 09:18 PM

Bill, I believe you bought this keris from me in about 2002-2003. I definitely did not attribute this keris to Empu Suparman.

In fact Empu Suparman never made commercially, he made for members of the Surakarta Karaton hierarchy and for other dignitaries, he did not charge for his work but gifted his keris, and those to whom he gave his work reciprocated in turn, with a gift, sometimes with an item of value, sometimes with a service, occasionally with money. The gift always came later, so that it would never be seen as associated with his gift to the person to whom he gave the keris.

The wilah that forms a part of this complete keris is definitely a Surakarta production. This nginden type of pamor is primarily associated with Empu Jayasukadgo who worked as a Karaton Empu around the beginning of the 20th century, other empus and pandes copied his style, and this style of nginden pamor can be found in keris through to the late 1930's, and also in the work of the new generation Surakarta makers. This keris wilah could be from the late pre-WWII period, or from the 1980's, I doubt that it is any earlier, or any later than these periods.

Just as we cannot attribute this keris to Empu Suparman, we also cannot attribute it to Empu Jayasukadgo, the reason being that Jayasukadgo's work is well known and keris like this that could be attributed to Jayasukadgo would cost well into 5 figures in $US. Think in terms a brand new, good quality motor car. Very few keris collectors in the western world are prepared to pay the prices for which the highest level keris change hands in Indonesia, and Empu Jayasukadgo's work is ranked as Level One.

In any case, it is an exceptionally fine keris, and for the last perhaps 20 years I have not seen, nor been able to purchase anything as fine as this.

In respect of the dress.
This dress is all current era, post 1980.
The wrongko is gembol jati (burl teak) of a very high grade, the wrongko was probably made by Mas Agus Irianto, arguably the finest Surakarta tukang wrongko of the Indonesian keris revival period.

The pendok will be silver, probably .925, and is easily recognisable as the work of Mas Dayadi, who was the most highly regarded tukang pendok in Jawa up until the time of his untimely death perhaps 15 or more years ago. Nobody working today can come even remotely close to the quality of the items that were produced by these two craftsmen.

The use of the "PB" emblem is, as you say, a tribute to the Susuhunan of Surakarta whose title is normally abbreviated to "Pakubuwana" (pron. "Pakubuwono", the "A's" that have become "O's" should be written with a diacritic ring above them, but this is not possible on my keyboard, or most other keyboards, so we just need to learn when to pronounce "A" as "A" or "A" as "O", actually similar to the "o" in "oar"). When the emblem is "PBX" it is specific to Pakubuwana X (10th.), who was the Susuhunan of Surakarta from 1893 to 1939, and is a bit of a cult figure in Surakarta..

The jejeran could be the work of a number of people, if I had it in hand I might be able to identify the maker, but I cannot from a photo. From the profile, it looks like the work of Mas Wakidjo, of Jagolan, who was a Karaton deignated tukang jejeran, but I cannot be certain of this. The material is gembol jati.

The mendak is a stock fitting, middle high quality, probably silver and yakut. Maker unknown.

I do hope that these few comments will help to refresh your memory Bill. I regret that I do not have a record of this transaction, but I had a few keris of this quality back around 20 years ago, and I can recall most of them, simply because of their exquisite quality. In fact, I still have a couple as a part of my personal collection, as well as one Jayasukadgo tombak kinatah.

A. G. Maisey · 22nd November 2018, 09:24 PM

David, the "X" motif is called "PBX", the reflective pamor style is called "nginden" or in English "chatoyant" , so a correct designation would be "Pamor PBX nginden".

kai · 22nd November 2018, 10:20 PM

Thanks for the infos, Alan! There certainly are some differences in quality visible from the pics.

Welcome back, Bill! BTW, PM sent.

Regards,
Kai

David · 22nd November 2018, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

David, the "X" motif is called "PBX", the reflective pamor style is called "nginden" or in English "chatoyant" , so a correct designation would be "Pamor PBX nginden".

Thanks Alan. Books and notes are still packed in boxes.

Bill M · 22nd November 2018, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Bill, I believe you bought this keris from me in about 2002-2003. I definitely did not attribute this keris to Empu Suparman.

et al.....

Mea culpa, peccāvimus... I dimly remember your mentioning Suparman, but....

As mentioned time has dimmed a few recollections. But the pieces from you are bright shining examples that I still appreciate their beauty. It is still a spine tingling adventure to hold one quietly, and look for the man in it. Don't think I ever figured that out, but I keep trying.

The words escape me as to details, words, descriptions, have always eluded me, but Beauty! Power! Quality! Craftsmanship! Now these I still connect!!

Also thank you for your wonderful descriptions. Yes I did acquire this from you a few years back, along with several others from the same source.

I have all the keris from you and enjoy them from time to time,

Here are a couple of others from you.

A. G. Maisey · 23rd November 2018, 06:45 AM

Yes Bill, I do not doubt that I mentioned Empu Suparman(Alm.) he was the ranking Mpu in the Karaton Surakarta during the 1980's and early 1990's, and he was my teacher for the last 15 years of his life. Without his help I would not now know a fraction of what I do know.

Yes, I recall the bethok very clearly. Empu Pauzan Pusposukadgo (Alm.) made three of these keris, and I bought all three, they were amongst the last keris he made before he became too ill to work. The pamor is an experimental one that he named "Pamor Kalpataru" . The Kalpataru Tree in Hindu belief is a sacred, wish granting tree, but in Javanese belief it is aligned with the Gunungan, Mt. Meru, and the Tree of Life. So, when Pauzan named this pamor Kalpataru he was in fact referencing the alignment of the Keris with Mt. Meru. I sold one of these keris to you, I sold one to another very respected collector, and I kept one for myself.

The other keris I do not remember, but it has the look of Pauzan's work. After Pauzan ceased work I bought all his unsold keris and sold most of them over about a 20 year period. This keris definitely does look like his work but I cannot remember it. The wrongko looks like Sutejo's work, the pendok I am virtually certain is Dayadi's work, but I would need to handle it to be certain, it is almost certainly .925 silver --- this class of work is not done in brass --- the jejeran is from either Sutejo or Suroso. All this dress is absolute top drawer, and the blade is classic Surakarta.

I knew Pauzan from 1974 until the time of his passing. He was one of the finest men I have ever known, kind, and gentle to a fault, the very epitome of a gentleman, I was fortunate to count him as a good friend.

Jean · 25th November 2018, 09:14 AM

I also appreciate the fineness of this type of bright nginden/ chatoyant pamor covering most of the surface of the blade and often found on contemporary krisses.
However I find that these pamor patterns look "busy" because they include much less iron than the conventional ones and are "floating" (not deeply embedded) into the blade core (see the 5th pic down from Bill for instance). Personally I prefer the older blades with more subtle pamor patterns with more apparent iron and better mixing into the blade core.
Regards

22nd November 2018, 08:24 PM	#3
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,212	I can't remember what the "X" pattern made in the pamor is called. Here is my example of it though. Attached Images

25th November 2018, 09:14 AM	#10
Jean Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,740	Question of taste.... I also appreciate the fineness of this type of bright nginden/ chatoyant pamor covering most of the surface of the blade and often found on contemporary krisses. However I find that these pamor patterns look "busy" because they include much less iron than the conventional ones and are "floating" (not deeply embedded) into the blade core (see the 5th pic down from Bill for instance). Personally I prefer the older blades with more subtle pamor patterns with more apparent iron and better mixing into the blade core. Regards

22nd November 2018, 07:21 PM	#1
Bill M Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Georgia Posts: 1,599	Thanks for Pakubuwono X Beautiful! The X pattern looks familiar. Chatoyant, chiaroscuro. Looks like the Same Empu as mine. Enjoying being back on the Forum!

22nd November 2018, 08:06 PM	#2
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,336	Good to have you back Bill.

22nd November 2018, 09:18 PM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	Bill, I believe you bought this keris from me in about 2002-2003. I definitely did not attribute this keris to Empu Suparman. In fact Empu Suparman never made commercially, he made for members of the Surakarta Karaton hierarchy and for other dignitaries, he did not charge for his work but gifted his keris, and those to whom he gave his work reciprocated in turn, with a gift, sometimes with an item of value, sometimes with a service, occasionally with money. The gift always came later, so that it would never be seen as associated with his gift to the person to whom he gave the keris. The wilah that forms a part of this complete keris is definitely a Surakarta production. This nginden type of pamor is primarily associated with Empu Jayasukadgo who worked as a Karaton Empu around the beginning of the 20th century, other empus and pandes copied his style, and this style of nginden pamor can be found in keris through to the late 1930's, and also in the work of the new generation Surakarta makers. This keris wilah could be from the late pre-WWII period, or from the 1980's, I doubt that it is any earlier, or any later than these periods. Just as we cannot attribute this keris to Empu Suparman, we also cannot attribute it to Empu Jayasukadgo, the reason being that Jayasukadgo's work is well known and keris like this that could be attributed to Jayasukadgo would cost well into 5 figures in $US. Think in terms a brand new, good quality motor car. Very few keris collectors in the western world are prepared to pay the prices for which the highest level keris change hands in Indonesia, and Empu Jayasukadgo's work is ranked as Level One. In any case, it is an exceptionally fine keris, and for the last perhaps 20 years I have not seen, nor been able to purchase anything as fine as this. In respect of the dress. This dress is all current era, post 1980. The wrongko is gembol jati (burl teak) of a very high grade, the wrongko was probably made by Mas Agus Irianto, arguably the finest Surakarta tukang wrongko of the Indonesian keris revival period. The pendok will be silver, probably .925, and is easily recognisable as the work of Mas Dayadi, who was the most highly regarded tukang pendok in Jawa up until the time of his untimely death perhaps 15 or more years ago. Nobody working today can come even remotely close to the quality of the items that were produced by these two craftsmen. The use of the "PB" emblem is, as you say, a tribute to the Susuhunan of Surakarta whose title is normally abbreviated to "Pakubuwana" (pron. "Pakubuwono", the "A's" that have become "O's" should be written with a diacritic ring above them, but this is not possible on my keyboard, or most other keyboards, so we just need to learn when to pronounce "A" as "A" or "A" as "O", actually similar to the "o" in "oar"). When the emblem is "PBX" it is specific to Pakubuwana X (10th.), who was the Susuhunan of Surakarta from 1893 to 1939, and is a bit of a cult figure in Surakarta.. The jejeran could be the work of a number of people, if I had it in hand I might be able to identify the maker, but I cannot from a photo. From the profile, it looks like the work of Mas Wakidjo, of Jagolan, who was a Karaton deignated tukang jejeran, but I cannot be certain of this. The material is gembol jati. The mendak is a stock fitting, middle high quality, probably silver and yakut. Maker unknown. I do hope that these few comments will help to refresh your memory Bill. I regret that I do not have a record of this transaction, but I had a few keris of this quality back around 20 years ago, and I can recall most of them, simply because of their exquisite quality. In fact, I still have a couple as a part of my personal collection, as well as one Jayasukadgo tombak kinatah.

22nd November 2018, 09:24 PM	#5
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	David, the "X" motif is called "PBX", the reflective pamor style is called "nginden" or in English "chatoyant" , so a correct designation would be "Pamor PBX nginden".

22nd November 2018, 10:20 PM	#6
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Thanks for the infos, Alan! There certainly are some differences in quality visible from the pics. Welcome back, Bill! BTW, PM sent. Regards, Kai

23rd November 2018, 06:45 AM	#9
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	Yes Bill, I do not doubt that I mentioned Empu Suparman(Alm.) he was the ranking Mpu in the Karaton Surakarta during the 1980's and early 1990's, and he was my teacher for the last 15 years of his life. Without his help I would not now know a fraction of what I do know. Yes, I recall the bethok very clearly. Empu Pauzan Pusposukadgo (Alm.) made three of these keris, and I bought all three, they were amongst the last keris he made before he became too ill to work. The pamor is an experimental one that he named "Pamor Kalpataru" . The Kalpataru Tree in Hindu belief is a sacred, wish granting tree, but in Javanese belief it is aligned with the Gunungan, Mt. Meru, and the Tree of Life. So, when Pauzan named this pamor Kalpataru he was in fact referencing the alignment of the Keris with Mt. Meru. I sold one of these keris to you, I sold one to another very respected collector, and I kept one for myself. The other keris I do not remember, but it has the look of Pauzan's work. After Pauzan ceased work I bought all his unsold keris and sold most of them over about a 20 year period. This keris definitely does look like his work but I cannot remember it. The wrongko looks like Sutejo's work, the pendok I am virtually certain is Dayadi's work, but I would need to handle it to be certain, it is almost certainly .925 silver --- this class of work is not done in brass --- the jejeran is from either Sutejo or Suroso. All this dress is absolute top drawer, and the blade is classic Surakarta. I knew Pauzan from 1974 until the time of his passing. He was one of the finest men I have ever known, kind, and gentle to a fault, the very epitome of a gentleman, I was fortunate to count him as a good friend.