Errors in Keris Literature

ganjawulung · 6th August 2007, 04:01 AM

May be this is useful for they who want to study keris, still from Garrett and Bronwen Solyom's book:

Various iron objects, rarely keris, have been unearthed in Javanese archaeological sites such as Sragen. Keris said to have been dug up belong to a special category. They are short, straight and sturdy with a unique square-section tang, and many features of a Surakarta keris. They are plain iron; some have iron metok, a wide ring, rusted over the tang, but original handles are unknown. The Solonese call them keris buda, believing them to come from the Central Javanese Hindhu Buddhist era (ninth century of before?). Apparently no reliable dating has been obtained for them. All objects of wesi buda (buddhist iron) are believed to be powerful.

And this is also from Garrett and Bronwen Solyom:
Another enigmatic group of keris have been simple blades and stylized human figure hilts made from one piece and of forge welded iron. Western litterature generally calls them keris majapahit (a term not used in Solo) and, with little proof, popularly labels them as the oldest kind of keris....

Ganjawulung

Alam Shah · 6th August 2007, 02:58 PM

I agree. The World of the Javanese Keris, is a good book. Although only 65 pages, in black and white, it covers a fair amount of concise information on Javanese keris and the amount of worksmanship that goes into a quality ensemble. Excellent photography, making this book, a 'must have' for collectors.

This fine book is still available, [ here ].

6th August 2007, 04:01 AM	#1
ganjawulung Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: J a k a r t a Posts: 991	Keris Buda or Keris Budo May be this is useful for they who want to study keris, still from Garrett and Bronwen Solyom's book: Various iron objects, rarely keris, have been unearthed in Javanese archaeological sites such as Sragen. Keris said to have been dug up belong to a special category. They are short, straight and sturdy with a unique square-section tang, and many features of a Surakarta keris. They are plain iron; some have iron metok, a wide ring, rusted over the tang, but original handles are unknown. The Solonese call them keris buda, believing them to come from the Central Javanese Hindhu Buddhist era (ninth century of before?). Apparently no reliable dating has been obtained for them. All objects of wesi buda (buddhist iron) are believed to be powerful. And this is also from Garrett and Bronwen Solyom: Another enigmatic group of keris have been simple blades and stylized human figure hilts made from one piece and of forge welded iron. Western litterature generally calls them keris majapahit (a term not used in Solo) and, with little proof, popularly labels them as the oldest kind of keris.... Ganjawulung

6th August 2007, 02:58 PM	#2
Alam Shah Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,248	Garrett and Bronwen Solyom book (1978) I agree. The World of the Javanese Keris, is a good book. Although only 65 pages, in black and white, it covers a fair amount of concise information on Javanese keris and the amount of worksmanship that goes into a quality ensemble. Excellent photography, making this book, a 'must have' for collectors. This fine book is still available, [ here ].