BALI KERIS HULU : ANIMAL FORM, what is it ?

David · 8th August 2021, 10:15 PM

Well, i've never seen anything quite like this in a Balinese keris hilt. There are bears in the region, but this depiction looks a bit slim for a bear. I agree it looks more like a dog. But i have never seen either bears or dogs in keris iconology.
You say you like the carving. Is this wood. In you photos it's hard to tell. It looks either like metal or wood that has been painted silver.

asomotif · 8th August 2021, 10:21 PM

Hello David,
Despite the rain we have at the moment there was a bit too much light for this picture. But it is wood, painted wood. the yellowish spots is where the paint has worn off.

Best regards,
Willem

Mickey the Finn · 9th August 2021, 03:46 PM

Looks kocetan to me, but not enough legs, and poor body condition. I hope it was not intended to be a dog.

I once saw a keris hilt for sale... To me it looked like a guy in a baseball cap with the visor flipped upwards, sort of inverted, and with what appeared to be a perforated shower pipe coming up behind him and making a 90 degree angle over his shoulders. I've since learned a few things, and I believe that hilt was intended as some sort of avant garde self-stylization in the form of Hanuman. I did not buy it.

I once bought a keris hilt with a similar "tail", but the face was a lot like the naga we all know and recognize when we see it. I think it was billed as a danganan Hanuman, but I had other ideas when I bought it, although I said nothing to the seller about it. It may be some sort of raksasa, or a bhuta. The hands display a mudra which I have not yet looked up. It may well turn out to be Hanuman after I figure out the meaning of the mudra.

I don't know much, but I'd call it a danganan kocetan, for no reason other than having seen other "horse headed" danganan kocetan in the past, and I am predisposed to view this hilt as having a "horse head", although it may actually be intended as the head of a beetle or pupa. The back does not look like any caterpillar I've ever seen, though. I can only presume that the carver knew what he intended to represent, though perhaps he saw it "as through a glass, darkly". At night when attempting to aim an air pistol at a target, I can only barely make out the front sight post in the U-notch rear, but I'm not missing the 1'x1' plywood piece at about 25'. In the dark I'm not even trying to hit the fox face I drew on the pizza box, or the beer can on top of it.

In Loving Memory of Plum (Plum-Plum)
2010-26 July 2021
Kostan.

M.t.F.

8th August 2021, 10:15 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,258	Well, i've never seen anything quite like this in a Balinese keris hilt. There are bears in the region, but this depiction looks a bit slim for a bear. I agree it looks more like a dog. But i have never seen either bears or dogs in keris iconology. You say you like the carving. Is this wood. In you photos it's hard to tell. It looks either like metal or wood that has been painted silver.

8th August 2021, 10:21 PM	#2
asomotif Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 2,237	Hello David, Despite the rain we have at the moment there was a bit too much light for this picture. But it is wood, painted wood. the yellowish spots is where the paint has worn off. Best regards, Willem

9th August 2021, 03:46 PM	#3
Mickey the Finn Member Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 90	Looks kocetan to me, but not enough legs, and poor body condition. I hope it was not intended to be a dog. I once saw a keris hilt for sale... To me it looked like a guy in a baseball cap with the visor flipped upwards, sort of inverted, and with what appeared to be a perforated shower pipe coming up behind him and making a 90 degree angle over his shoulders. I've since learned a few things, and I believe that hilt was intended as some sort of avant garde self-stylization in the form of Hanuman. I did not buy it. I once bought a keris hilt with a similar "tail", but the face was a lot like the naga we all know and recognize when we see it. I think it was billed as a danganan Hanuman, but I had other ideas when I bought it, although I said nothing to the seller about it. It may be some sort of raksasa, or a bhuta. The hands display a mudra which I have not yet looked up. It may well turn out to be Hanuman after I figure out the meaning of the mudra. I don't know much, but I'd call it a danganan kocetan, for no reason other than having seen other "horse headed" danganan kocetan in the past, and I am predisposed to view this hilt as having a "horse head", although it may actually be intended as the head of a beetle or pupa. The back does not look like any caterpillar I've ever seen, though. I can only presume that the carver knew what he intended to represent, though perhaps he saw it "as through a glass, darkly". At night when attempting to aim an air pistol at a target, I can only barely make out the front sight post in the U-notch rear, but I'm not missing the 1'x1' plywood piece at about 25'. In the dark I'm not even trying to hit the fox face I drew on the pizza box, or the beer can on top of it. In Loving Memory of Plum (Plum-Plum) 2010-26 July 2021 Kostan. M.t.F.