Review on Bali keris Pedang

[Anthony G.]

Hi

I managed to bid for this keris.

What is your review on this Bali keris sword?

I was told it is 19th century and only use for royalty.

[Rick]

The auction has ended?
Your bid won it?

Maybe it's just the lighting, but dhapur looks kind of different.

[Battara]

Is that a "death shroud" pamor?

[Rick]

I think that death shroud could be one interpretation of the pamor, there are others I think.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by Rick

The auction has ended?
Your bid won it?

Maybe it's just the lighting, but dhapur looks kind of different.

Auction ended and Yes. I won it.

The first time I saw this keris is in a book about Balinese keris years ago.

I told myself that I want it very badly and somehow has a strange feeling that oneday I will have it.

[Rick]

I guess it was meant to be so, Anthony.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by Battara

Is that a "death shroud" pamor?

someone told me is Tambangan Badung pamor.

[SidJ]

Buntel Mayit pamor is the term used in some places. It has an auspicious and also potentially the opposite vibe depending on if it's suitable for the custodian from what I understand. It's a lovely thing. What is the bilah length?

[A. G. Maisey]

Actually Sid, it is Buntel Mayat, the "Buntel Mayit" name is a corruption.

In Javanese the word "buntel" is a wrapping, & "mayit" is a corpse. "Buntel Mayit" = "corpse wrapping" which sounds pretty hairy & scary, especially so for people who do not understand.

On the other hand, the word "mayat" means "to slope upwards", & "Buntel Mayat" = "wrapped in an upwards direction". In the understanding of those people who were the acknowledged elites of keris understanding & belief in Solo during the 1970's & 1980's this was a very positive pamor that enhanced the advancement of the bearer.

The "mayit" thing is just another persistent misunderstanding. Not at all unusual where the keris is concerned. But this is for Javanese keris.

In Bali this pamor is "Tambang(an) Badung". The word "tambang" means "rope", "Badung" is a regency in South Bali that covers most of the well known tourist areas --- Kuta, Legian, etc. So"Tambang Badung" = "Badung Rope".

[David]

Alan, i wonder what you thoughts are on the information Anthony received that this is a keris dhapur meant only for royalty. I guess i have a natural skepticism about such proclamations. And the choice of hilt seems unlikely for royalty.
Anthony, surely there were some other photos of this keris from the auction house. Are you able to post any. It looks like a nice keris. Congrats on achieving a long time desire.

[A. G. Maisey]

The "royalty" thing sounds like its in Grain o' Salt Country to me.

But there are lots of things I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.

[kai]

Hello Sid,

What is the bilah length?

The blade length (without pesi) is just over 47cm (18 5/8").

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Congrats, Anthony!

This keris was also on my list...

I handled it a long time ago; from my memory, it seems to be a legit keris pedang (AKA keris ligan) with an unusual wavy tip (i.e. luk).

Age I'd hesitate trying to narrow down.

Regards,
Kai

[Rick]

Let's see some more pictures please.

[kai]

I'm sure Anthony can add some more pics from the auction, Rick!

This keris was exhibited & published a while ago: Cp. the link given by me in post #31 of this thread:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21646
Piece #17 on page 91 of the catalog is missing from the file online, unfortunately.

The catalog is also still available as book in both languages, I believe.

Regards,
Kai

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by SidJ

Buntel Mayit pamor is the term used in some places. It has an auspicious and also potentially the opposite vibe depending on if it's suitable for the custodian from what I understand. It's a lovely thing. What is the bilah length?

total length 60cm

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by David

Alan, i wonder what you thoughts are on the information Anthony received that this is a keris dhapur meant only for royalty. I guess i have a natural skepticism about such proclamations. And the choice of hilt seems unlikely for royalty.
Anthony, surely there were some other photos of this keris from the auction house. Are you able to post any. It looks like a nice keris. Congrats on achieving a long time desire.

Thanks David. But this keris has limited photo.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by kai

Congrats, Anthony!

This keris was also on my list...

I handled it a long time ago; from my memory, it seems to be a legit keris pedang (AKA keris ligan) with an unusual wavy tip (i.e. luk).

Age I'd hesitate trying to narrow down.

Regards,
Kai

Hi Kai, omg. So you are one of the bidders and my heart almost stop when I saw the bidding price keeps going up non-stop but eventually I told myself this is the keris I must have no matter what.

Finally a dream comes true. I have been thinking of this keris non-stop ever since I saw it in the book years ago. These are the replicas but cannot compare with this original as there is no 'soul' in these replicas.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The "royalty" thing sounds like its in Grain o' Salt Country to me.

But there are lots of things I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.

Agreed Alan. And I thought this type is used for combat fighting back in old days.

[A. G. Maisey]

Perhaps Anthony, perhaps. At least the Balinese people did use keris in general as actual primary blood-letting instruments, not only as reserve weapons or talismanic weapons.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Perhaps Anthony, perhaps. At least the Balinese people did use keris in general as actual primary blood-letting instruments, not only as reserve weapons or talismanic weapons.

And I think royalty , such word might NOT be correct, maybe nobility suits better. I try to figure out if an ordinary Balinese warrior can have such unique keris forged or it is reserved for nobility who has the fund and privilege to own a special 'dapur' keris.

[A. G. Maisey]

If we are trying to find a reasonably defensible class of person who might have owned this keris initially, I think that first we need to think in terms of time, ie, when was the blade made?

Then we can think in terms of wealth, ie, who was sufficiently wealthy to commission such a blade?


So question #1> how old is it?

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

If we are trying to find a reasonably defensible class of person who might have owned this keris initially, I think that first we need to think in terms of time, ie, when was the blade made?

Then we can think in terms of wealth, ie, who was sufficiently wealthy to commission such a blade?


So question #1> how old is it?

On paper it is 19th century. I suppose so.

[A. G. Maisey]

Possibly, but personally, I do not attach much credence to what somebody has written unless there is some sort of information to support the writing.

I have a similar keris to this, and the wrongko that it is in was made for it, this wrongko is ivory, and in my opinion that ivory looks like it could go back at least a couple of hundred years.

[SidJ]

Mendak might be gold?

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by SidJ

Mendak might be gold?

doesn't look so and the uwer stones look like glass.

[David]

Originally Posted by Anthony G.

doesn't look so and the uwer stones look like glass.

Well, i would not be surprised to find glass "stones" fitted into a gold wewer. In Bali glass can often be found in high end ensembles. I have been told that the over all impression was more important than the intrinsic value of the stones. So finding glass set in a gold setting is not that unusual.
I agree that this keris probably would have been owned by a person of means though as the blade was not likely to have been inexpensive to commission.
I have read a couple of explanations of these tapukan style hilts. One idea was that they were favoured by soldiers due to the added grip the hair or fiber wrap provided. But i have never seen anything to support that theory beyond the logic that, yes, a wrap like this probably would provide a better grip.
The other is that this was a style of hilt favoured by the young. As were, apparently, kojongan style sheaths. And i have seen examples of keris dress that actually use both the kojongan with the tapukan hilt. So maybe that is the case.
But the reason i called out the "royal" tag on this keris is that this just doesn't appear to be the type of dress i would see on a keris owned by a member of the royal family. This tapukan hilt is a bit fancier than most, with that nice Kala carved on the pommel, but it still not what i would expect from royalty. So yes, "nobility" might be a better possibility. Or just somebody with the means to afford such a blade.
Did i see somewhere that there is a sheath that comes with this keris? I am curious to see what the entire ensemble looks like. I have a couple of keris with these tapukan hilts. One is rather plain in dress, but the other is in antique sunggingan dress and the tapukan hilt is painted with the same pigment so it seems to have been a part of the original dress. I am not sure if any particular social level in Bali were privy to sunggingan dress, but it is interesting that i have also seen a number of sunggingan dressed Bali keris with tapukan hilts as can be seen in this old thread.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24742

[David]

Originally Posted by SidJ

Mendak might be gold?

I did a little searching online, and this is part of the original IFICAH catalog description. So yes, they identify the metal used in the wewer as "gold" and the stones as glass.
And they dated the keris as possibly being as old as late 18th century in the catalog.
They also mention the sarung (not shown for some reason either in their catalog for the show or in the auction catalog) as being sesrengatan. I am a bit surprised that a sesrengatan sheath would be matched with a tapukan hilt. Anyone have an opinion on that.

Mendak Gold set with dark stone or glass cabochons.
Scabbard: not shown, mouthpiece elaborate sesrengatan form (javan. ladrangan), reserved for the spiritual and secular upper classes (brahmana, khsatrya).
Blade 18th or early 19th century, mount 20th century.
Blade 47.3 cm

[A. G. Maisey]

It seems that there is ongoing interest in just what sort of person might have originally had possession of this keris that Anthony now has.

So let us seriously address that question.

In (I believe) 1978 it was suggested to me by a Balinese Brahman that the waves in a keris blade mirrored the hierarchical status of the bearer of that keris, as expressed in the number of roofs on his family temple, and on his cremation tower (bade).

This number also relates to one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity:-

Siwa has 11 roofs, and a consecrated king is also entitled to 11 roofs on his personal family temple.

Brahma & Wisnu both have 9 roofs and and high ranking nobles --- ie, members of the Triwangsa:- Brahmana, K'satriya, Wesia --- are entitled to have between 5 roofs and 9 roofs on their family temples, the actual number of roofs depends upon "where they sit" in the hierarchy.

Lesser deities have between 1 roof and 3 roofs, and members of the Sudra caste are entitled to between 1 roof and 3 roofs on their family temples.

( I have been given several different interpretations of roof readings the one above seems to be the most popular, the second most popular appears to be:- royal family 11, high ranking nobles 7 & 9, lesser nobles 3 & 5, Sudra no roofs)

Now, to relate this to the keris we need to ignore the Islamic luk count which is presently in vogue and return to the method of count that counts only the actual waves in the blade, we forget all about the two nominal waves, one directly above the gandhik, and one at the tip of the blade on the same side of the blade as the gandhik:- the imaginary luk.

To count the true number of luk in the blade we begin the count directly above the wadidang and progress along the blade to complete the count on the same side as the wadidang. This method of count will produce a number that is 2 less than the Islamic count.

Thus, if we apply this method of count to Anthony's keris we have a luk count of 9.

A keris with 9 luk relates to Brahma and Wisnu, and thus to a member of the Brahmana, K'satriya and Wesia castes who occupies a high place in the social hierarchy.

If Anthony was told that this keris was one reserved for royalty then whoever told him that did in fact know that 11 is the number above which the luk in a legitimate Balinese keris cannot progress, but that person had reached the number of 11 by applying the illegitimate --- but popular --- Islamic count. When we apply the correct method of count that counts only true luk then we do come to a number (9) which is absolutely believable for a keris of this quality.

My previous posts on this were dictated by time, and in any case, I felt that it was not really necessary for me to provide a more or less complete explanation, because that explanation is already out there, and any serious student of the keris would, I am sure, already have read it.

[SidJ]

Do the 2 holes called Shiva eyes have any special meaning or significance?