Kocet-Kocetan hilt form

[Alam Shah]

Hi all,

Looking into Ensiklopedi Keris (see picture attached, from pg. 250). For some hilts, the head does look like a horse. The texts explained that it's a horse head.
Based on examples posted here, there seems to be those that looks like horse head and some that's clear cut a bug-like head.

Could there a hilt transformation, from the bug-like head into into a horse head?
Or could it be, the case where later craftsman, carved hilts without knowledge of the symbolism attached?
Or is there two hilt forms with different head type, a bug and a horse?

Btw, there is a famous keris with a kocet-kocetan hilt, Keris Ki Puspa Wijaya. (see Pusaka Keris, Vol 07-08/2007, pg.61).

[Alam Shah]

Here's another kocet-kocetan hilt from Zonneveld's, Traditional weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago, Pg. 67. The head is also horse-like.

[VVV]

Here is maybe a cousin from Madura (next to a regular K-K)?
Does anyone know what kind of bug it is and if there is any symbolic relationship?
It looks a bit like the no 2 in Nieuwenkamp?

Michael

[ganjawulung]

Dear Michael, Shahrial and All,

This is just more example on kusia hilt, or kocet-kocetan. I bought this hilt from a senior collector in Jakarta last week. Hopefully, it will be useful to you all...

GANJAWULUNG (Jakarta, June 1, 2008)

[Rick]

What is the hilt material Ganjawulung ?
It looks like Cinnabar; is it ?

Very nice acquisition .

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by Rick

What is the hilt material Ganjawulung ?
It looks like Cinnabar; is it ?

Very nice acquisition .

Dear Rick,

It is pure wooden hilts, with good (old) finishing. Looks like Cinnabar (red mercury sulfide, HgS), but really it is made of wood. Maybe a kind of "tayuman" (?) or "tri kanchu" wood.

I got other hilts too from this senior collector, pattani hilts (tajong hilts) and maybe kelantan hilts too. Later I'll post in other thread.

Regards,

GANJAWULUNG (Jakarta, June 1, 2008)

[David]

Beautiful example Ganja, thank you.

[BluErf]

Originally Posted by ganjawulung

Dear Michael, Shahrial and All,

This is just more example on kusia hilt, or kocet-kocetan. I bought this hilt from a senior collector in Jakarta last week. Hopefully, it will be useful to you all...

GANJAWULUNG (Jakarta, June 1, 2008)

Very nice warm patina, and good carving too. Gosh, it was posted on 1 Jun and I only saw it today; obviously I haven't been checking the threads often enough these days.

One question is - why would the beetle have a horse head?

[kai]

Yes, the preying mantis seems to be a wrong identification (possibly based on the weird head of some of these hilts).

One question is - why would the beetle have a horse head?

Could it be just a corruption? Those hilts with the horse-like heads seem to be those with less (or hardly any) beetle-like features.

A wood worker in rural Bali will have been acquainted with the actual beetle as well as the pupae. Those hilts shown by Nieuwenkamp (drawn in 1907) are amazingly accurate... However, the stylized head is already evident in the left example. (http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/attach...chmentid=26914)

Maybe this was done to symbolize more than a "mere" animal? Similar to other mythological creatures looking like a human/animal mix (e.g. Hanuman)?

Regards,
Kai

[milandro]

Old thread, resurrected because I am researching the Kocet-Kocetan hilts since I bought 2.

In this catalogue by a terminated auction we read :


https://zeeuwsveilinghuis.nl/blog/ru...nese-dancer-2/


"...Although many ‘experts’ have claimed this special type of handle to represent a mythological horse or eagle (Garuda), W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp (1874-1950) proved –already in 1905!- that we are dealing with a stylized six-legged longhorn beetle (Batocera hector). In Balinese, it is referred to as Kocet Kocetan, derived from the penetrating sound it makes (1). It is said that this insect represents one of the Primordial Animals, Batara Karpa, a beetle whose mother was Dewi Winata, a bird-demon, who was married to Rishi Kasyapa, a tortoise. Three other animal gods were born from this marriage: Batara Garuda, the eagle, Batara Agniya, the marten, and Batara Kowara, the snake. Batara Karpa, or
Kusia, is closely linked to one of the three main gods (Trimurti), Brahma, which in turn implicates that keris with a kocet kocetan handle are only allowed to be worn by Brahmans. Similar to a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, the kocet kocetan is also said to symbolize a youth on the verge of becoming an adult or undergoing an evolution in profession or status ...."