I finally have a Sunggingan

Paul de Souza · 22nd July 2023, 09:36 AM

I finally have a sunggingan.

I would like to share it here and seek comments on it.

I believe that this keris was acquired by it's previous owner in the 1980s.

I am intrigued by the scene on the wrangka and would like to know what story it is portraying.

Also interesting is the gold leaf highlights in the sunggingan.

The mendak is pretty fine to.

The ukiran is horn but who is it portraying?

Pamor is also interesting and I think it is Adeg, Wengkon.

Comments and feedback most welcome.

JustYS · 22nd July 2023, 12:50 PM

Very nice Sunggingan I like it.

I don’t know what story it is portraying but my guess is the pink faces are the evil ones.

Regarding the pamor looks like Untu Walang to me.

Jean · 22nd July 2023, 02:18 PM

Yes, I would say pamor Tunggak Semi/ Untu Walang. And the hilt is in Rajamala style.
Regards

Paul de Souza · 23rd July 2023, 02:36 PM

Yes. untu walang or gigi yu. I got the pamor wrong.
Thank you.

David · 23rd July 2023, 06:19 PM

Seems like a nice keris with an uncommon pamor. The sunggingan looks nice. I am afraid i do not know exactly what the image depicts, but it is quite attractive. Seems to not be recent, but also not particularly old. Nice to see the "Rajamala" hilt crafted from horn as most of the ones i see in this planar style are wood and rather recent. It doesn't seem well fitted to the mendak though and i wonder if that can be adjusted. I do question whether this the character on these hilts is really meant to be Rajamala/Rojomolo, but since this profile is echoed in the army of figures on the right side of this sunggingan it seems like a a good match for this ensemble.

A. G. Maisey · 24th July 2023, 12:32 AM

The sunggingan motif is a scene from one of the wayang plays, I do not know exactly which one, and in my experience, if we gathered together ten people who were acknowledged experts in the wayang theatre we might well get 15 different opinions.

The hilt is most definitely not a Rojomolo hilt.

It is a Sirah Wayang hilt (Guritno P.273).

Solyom (P.32) uses English terminology:- "Samban form with wayang head"

In common usage in Solo we just refer to this hilt form as "Wayang".

The word "Sirah" means "head" in Javanese, "samban" refers to the overall form of the hilt.

There are two forms of Rojomolo hilt in Surakarta hilts, one is a planar form which to anybody but a trained person looks pretty much the same as any of a dozen other Surakarta planar forms (Guritno P.269). The other Rojomolo form has the top of the hilt carved in the form of Rojomolo, and has used the cantik baita (figurehead) of the royal barge as its model.

There is a wayang character named Rojomolo, true, but in Solo, Rojomolo is understood to mean the spirit of the Bengawan Solo (Solo River). We can see an example of this figurehead in the Musium Radyo Pustoko, this figure-head was traditionally carved for the royal barge by each crown prince before he came to the throne. See foto.

The hilt photo is of a Rojomolo hilt form that depicts the Spirit of the Bengawan.

Tunggak Semi pamor is a random pamor that is often the remnants of eroded wos wutah. "Tunggak" means "tree stump", "Tunggak Semi" means a sprouting stump, where this name can be applied to a pamor, the motif thus named is accidental, either through the forge process or because of erosion --- usually erosion --- and it can be imagined as a sprouting stump without a lot of difficulty.

The pamor in the base of this blade is an intentional pamor miring motif, some would name it pamor Ujung or others might name it Junjung Darajad.

The pamor in the body of the blade would be named by some people as Wiji Timun. There are at least two pamor motifs recognised as Wiji Timun, one has a string of "cucumber seeds" running down the center of the blade, the other has a series of "cucumber seeds" along the edges of the blade. This blade appears to be Kamardikan.

The mendak position can be corrected by dismounting hilt & mendak and using a binding of wool that will also support the mendak and bring it into line with the hilt, the pesi might need an alignment using light hammer blows on a steel surface, warm the pesi first, not hot, just warm.

Paul de Souza · 24th July 2023, 08:17 AM

Thank you for all the info; Justys, Jean, David and Mr Maisey. Much appreciated.

Jean · 24th July 2023, 09:40 AM

Thank you Alan.

22nd July 2023, 09:36 AM	#1
Paul de Souza Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 65	I finally have a Sunggingan I finally have a sunggingan. I would like to share it here and seek comments on it. I believe that this keris was acquired by it's previous owner in the 1980s. I am intrigued by the scene on the wrangka and would like to know what story it is portraying. Also interesting is the gold leaf highlights in the sunggingan. The mendak is pretty fine to. The ukiran is horn but who is it portraying? Pamor is also interesting and I think it is Adeg, Wengkon. Comments and feedback most welcome. Attached Images

24th July 2023, 12:32 AM	#6
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	The sunggingan motif is a scene from one of the wayang plays, I do not know exactly which one, and in my experience, if we gathered together ten people who were acknowledged experts in the wayang theatre we might well get 15 different opinions. The hilt is most definitely not a Rojomolo hilt. It is a Sirah Wayang hilt (Guritno P.273). Solyom (P.32) uses English terminology:- "Samban form with wayang head" In common usage in Solo we just refer to this hilt form as "Wayang". The word "Sirah" means "head" in Javanese, "samban" refers to the overall form of the hilt. There are two forms of Rojomolo hilt in Surakarta hilts, one is a planar form which to anybody but a trained person looks pretty much the same as any of a dozen other Surakarta planar forms (Guritno P.269). The other Rojomolo form has the top of the hilt carved in the form of Rojomolo, and has used the cantik baita (figurehead) of the royal barge as its model. There is a wayang character named Rojomolo, true, but in Solo, Rojomolo is understood to mean the spirit of the Bengawan Solo (Solo River). We can see an example of this figurehead in the Musium Radyo Pustoko, this figure-head was traditionally carved for the royal barge by each crown prince before he came to the throne. See foto. The hilt photo is of a Rojomolo hilt form that depicts the Spirit of the Bengawan. Tunggak Semi pamor is a random pamor that is often the remnants of eroded wos wutah. "Tunggak" means "tree stump", "Tunggak Semi" means a sprouting stump, where this name can be applied to a pamor, the motif thus named is accidental, either through the forge process or because of erosion --- usually erosion --- and it can be imagined as a sprouting stump without a lot of difficulty. The pamor in the base of this blade is an intentional pamor miring motif, some would name it pamor Ujung or others might name it Junjung Darajad. The pamor in the body of the blade would be named by some people as Wiji Timun. There are at least two pamor motifs recognised as Wiji Timun, one has a string of "cucumber seeds" running down the center of the blade, the other has a series of "cucumber seeds" along the edges of the blade. This blade appears to be Kamardikan. The mendak position can be corrected by dismounting hilt & mendak and using a binding of wool that will also support the mendak and bring it into line with the hilt, the pesi might need an alignment using light hammer blows on a steel surface, warm the pesi first, not hot, just warm. Attached Images

24th July 2023, 08:17 AM	#7
Paul de Souza Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 65	Thank you for all the info; Justys, Jean, David and Mr Maisey. Much appreciated. Last edited by Paul de Souza; 24th July 2023 at 10:46 AM. Reason: Forgot names.

22nd July 2023, 12:50 PM	#2
JustYS Member Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 138	Very nice Sunggingan I like it. I don’t know what story it is portraying but my guess is the pink faces are the evil ones. Regarding the pamor looks like Untu Walang to me.

22nd July 2023, 02:18 PM	#3
Jean Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,740	Yes, I would say pamor Tunggak Semi/ Untu Walang. And the hilt is in Rajamala style. Regards

23rd July 2023, 02:36 PM	#4
Paul de Souza Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 65	Yes. untu walang or gigi yu. I got the pamor wrong. Thank you.

23rd July 2023, 06:19 PM	#5
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,123	Seems like a nice keris with an uncommon pamor. The sunggingan looks nice. I am afraid i do not know exactly what the image depicts, but it is quite attractive. Seems to not be recent, but also not particularly old. Nice to see the "Rajamala" hilt crafted from horn as most of the ones i see in this planar style are wood and rather recent. It doesn't seem well fitted to the mendak though and i wonder if that can be adjusted. I do question whether this the character on these hilts is really meant to be Rajamala/Rojomolo, but since this profile is echoed in the army of figures on the right side of this sunggingan it seems like a a good match for this ensemble.

24th July 2023, 09:40 AM	#8
Jean Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,740	Thank you Alan.