Keris Pangeran Dipenogoro

[mykeris]

Sorry guys, the title is just a gimmick . All photos taken through my hand phone camera so pls expect some blurred pictures. How I wish, I could have brought a proper camera but not allowed for the second time. This keris belonged to a very reputable Bugis family, newly dresssed (1960s) in Malay style. This keris has some interesting history to it. To my surprise, I was shiverred to see the blade. Could it be a Javanese blade, A Semenanjung blade, Sumatran Blade or a Bugis blade? I would give age to about 1600s, non laminated blade with two mosters namely a Dragon and another motif down under it, which I could not identify.
It has deep fullers to the tip at both sides, just like an ordinary Malela blade. Any comment?

[Rick]

Would love to see a picture of the entire blade .

[mykeris]

Sorry Rick, I was handicapped .

[nechesh]

MyKeris, not allowed a real camera for the second time? Handicapped in the taking? Did you take these photos then, on the sly, without the owners permission?

[mykeris]

Nechesh, not as easy as we think, taking photos of certain pusaka of the 'orthodox' elderly Malay community needs long wait, the right time and moment and permission

[nechesh]

Well MyKeris, i, for one, wouldn't imagine it would be easy at all to get permission to photograph the pusaka of anyone in the "orthodox" Malay community. I would think that if you did get permission though, they might at least let you use a real camera to take the picture. I'm not sure you actually answered my question though.

[mykeris]

Nechesh, what do you think of the keris?

[nechesh]

I think that it is a very blurry blade, at least in your clandestine cell phone photos. Frankly, i don't really feel comfortable discussing someone's pusaka if there is a possibility that they are unaware that it's image is now appearing on the internet. I don't know if this is the case, but the more you keep evading my questions, the more i tend to believe it is true.

[mykeris]

TQ Nechesh dear, tq Permission granted.

[rahman]

The blade is in a bad shape of maintenance -- rusted all over. It's ironic that a pusaka held in such high regard would be treated so badly. You might want to gently advise the lederly owners to have it cleaned.

[Alam Shah]

Agreed with rahman, the rust is obviously very bad.
Although the piece is esoterically imbued, maintenance is still required.
In Malaysia, (KL), Rasdan should be able to do a good job treating pusakas.

Picture of the entire blade with the ganja should be helpful to find out something about this piece. Picture is too blur to tell much.... Sorry.

It looks like the top is a naga and the bottom is a singa barong...(from the blurr pic.)

[mykeris]

TQ. You re right, unattended. Yes, I know..Rasdan is 'D' most handsome person in KL when keris is concern. Didnt see him for the last 5 days. Any idea on origin and bangun?

[rasdan]

Hi mykeris,

Is this the keris that u had been telling me before? Im suprised it is a naga. If this is the piece, i can sure say that it is authentic. It seems unusual to have both naga and singa barong on one keris. However, i dont think we can accept this as a malela. Its the wide groove alongside the naga that makes it looks like fullers. Thanks for sharing, however, now that u had shown the keris pictures, in a few years, naga-singa kerises will starting to reach the shores of malaysia from madura. Perhaps someone can help to identify wheather the naga is javaneese or malay. On the other hand, i havent seen any singa on a malay blade.

[Alam Shah]

Naga kerises normally can be found on Javanese, Maduran an Balinese pieces. There are instances where the dressing were changed into Malay/Bugis dressing. There are examples at many museums. But a naga-barong, this is the first time I'm seeing. Thanks for sharing...

[mykeris]

TQ. It is a pity, this keris is unattended by its owner. I wish I could pursue this keris, I could really get the feel while holding it and couldnt sleep thinking about it, a fantastique keris with hidden Minangkabu-Bugis history and hopefully one day I would be able to own it.

[Boedhi Adhitya]

Nice keris, bad rust You should clean it the first time you have a chance. The keris's shape (dhapur) certainly not the ordinary one. The two deep fullers are intended to raise the middle part of the keris, so the middle part resembles the body and tail of "naga" snake. It is not the sogokan. Perhaps the blade was made in java, but i'm not quite sure before handle the blade by myself The bugis peoples are well known as the good sailors and merchants, and their ancestor had travel throughout the archipelago.
One more thing, I believe the blade is very finely laminated. You may see the fine layers of iron under magnifier, AFTER you clean it. So, just clean it Mykeris, after you get the permission, of course

[Boedhi Adhitya]

Nice keris, bad rust You should clean it the first time you have the chance. The blade's shape (dhapur) certainly not the ordinary one. The two deep fullers are intended to raise the middle part of the blade, so it resembles the body and tail of the naga snake. It is not the sogokan. Althought it is belongs to bugis family, I believe the blade was made in java , but not quite certain before handle it by myself The Bugis peoples are well known as the good sailormen and merchants. They had travel throughout the archipelago for a long time, so it was very common for them to brought fine goods from other areas.
One more thing, I believe the blade is finely laminated. You may see the layers of iron under magnifier AFTER you clean it. So, just clean it Mykeris, certainly after you get the permission

[mykeris]

TQ, I will do so.