Sunginggan - six degrees of separation

Green · 3rd September 2019, 08:07 PM

Yet another interesting auction held today. This time it was "the Zimmermann collection of Eastern and African weapons". A couple of kerisses that I was watching went pass my comfort zone so I let em pass (choteng hilted & a sumatera keris without scabbard) but there was this sunggingan that nobody was interested in , but looked quite fine to my eyes. Although this type is not in my collecting area, the keris looked very pleasing and so I bid and won .

And here are my questions:

1) Who is/was this Mr Zimmermann?

2) As I know absolutely nothing about sunggingan I had a look at an old thread on this topic in this forum and learnt quite a bit but it did not answer some of my questions

The decoration of this one is very much understated compared to the rest that I saw on the net which are invariably flamboyant and too ostentatious to my taste. Is this one "old"?

Interestingly (to me) while reading the thread above, I saw an entry by Vandoo (may 2013) showing the photo of this very keris and he couldn't recall where he got the pic from (so now we know !!).

3) What is the pamor type? The keris was stated as Balinese but the scabbard isn't. So is the blade balinese or madura? (As I think the sarong is?) or what?

4) According to Mr Alan Maisey color codes, looks like this one might probably came from the royalty (Red and gold) Is it correct to assume this?

appreciate your comments/explanations.

Nik

Battara · 3rd September 2019, 10:23 PM

I never have been much for the wayang keris figures and paint, but I LOVE that blade!

A. G. Maisey · 3rd September 2019, 11:22 PM

I do not believe that we can apply the "colour code" that applies in the Surakarta Karaton to this keris.

Based upon what I believe I can see in the photos I would be inclined to place this complete keris as North Coast Jawa, perhaps Cirebon or Batavia (Jakarta), and probably put together as a dress keris for a gentleman of Chinese descent.

The blade does not appear to be Balinese, but rather West Jawa or Sunda style. I do not like guessing age from photos, but I feel that this wilah is late 19th century through to 1930's, this guess could be completely wrong, there is nothing that I can see that would prevent this wilah from being a good quality recent production.

Sunggingan keris dress requires a conscious care, a sunggingan keris worn on only a few occasions will very often show signs of that wear; this keris appears to be impeccable. It is not unusual for a keris that still has its wrongko from a previous generation, but that wrongko is damaged to the point of it being unable to be worn as an item of dress, to have the wrongko repaired and minimally re-shaped, and then have sunggingan work applied to hide the repairs, so if the inside of this wrongko looks old, but the sunggingan work is as untouched as it appears in the photos, this could well be the story with this keris.

The blade photo is not all that clear, but it appears to be random mlumah with surface manipulation, perhaps classifiable as one of the sub-divisions of wos wutah.

Jean · 4th September 2019, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green

1) Who is/was this Mr Zimmermann?

May be Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman) but it spells with a single 'n" at the end

My personal impression is that this kris is quite recent (last quarter of 20th century) but I may be wrong of course.
Regards

A. G. Maisey · 4th September 2019, 10:50 AM

Or, of course, you may be right, Jean.

I've been saying for years that I can't tell much from photos, but even if it is recent, stylistically it is North Coast, and those motifs and colour scheme are a Chinese dream.

Big Bob only got one "n"?

Well, a man of his status deserves two. I see the ----mann form as being far more regal than the ----man form.

But I think this auction was the Dr. Zimmermann collection, not Bob's collection --- Bob collects houses, its Ringo Starr who collects sharp pointy things

Green · 4th September 2019, 11:41 AM

interesting and very likely that as Alan said, this keris may be commissioned by a Chinese gentleman. Decoration on the scabbard matches very well with old chinese satin attire. i can imagine a rather overweight and rich chinese merchant reclining on a sofa in his opium den in jakarta surrounded by his indonesian concubines smoking his bong while holding this keris and admiring it...

it is a rather elegant keris to my untutored eyes....

3rd September 2019, 08:07 PM	#1
Green Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Malaysia Posts: 312	Sunginggan - six degrees of separation Yet another interesting auction held today. This time it was "the Zimmermann collection of Eastern and African weapons". A couple of kerisses that I was watching went pass my comfort zone so I let em pass (choteng hilted & a sumatera keris without scabbard) but there was this sunggingan that nobody was interested in , but looked quite fine to my eyes. Although this type is not in my collecting area, the keris looked very pleasing and so I bid and won . And here are my questions: 1) Who is/was this Mr Zimmermann? 2) As I know absolutely nothing about sunggingan I had a look at an old thread on this topic in this forum and learnt quite a bit but it did not answer some of my questions The decoration of this one is very much understated compared to the rest that I saw on the net which are invariably flamboyant and too ostentatious to my taste. Is this one "old"? Interestingly (to me) while reading the thread above, I saw an entry by Vandoo (may 2013) showing the photo of this very keris and he couldn't recall where he got the pic from (so now we know !!). 3) What is the pamor type? The keris was stated as Balinese but the scabbard isn't. So is the blade balinese or madura? (As I think the sarong is?) or what? 4) According to Mr Alan Maisey color codes, looks like this one might probably came from the royalty (Red and gold) Is it correct to assume this? appreciate your comments/explanations. Nik Attached Images

3rd September 2019, 10:23 PM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,229	I never have been much for the wayang keris figures and paint, but I LOVE that blade!

3rd September 2019, 11:22 PM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,898	I do not believe that we can apply the "colour code" that applies in the Surakarta Karaton to this keris. Based upon what I believe I can see in the photos I would be inclined to place this complete keris as North Coast Jawa, perhaps Cirebon or Batavia (Jakarta), and probably put together as a dress keris for a gentleman of Chinese descent. The blade does not appear to be Balinese, but rather West Jawa or Sunda style. I do not like guessing age from photos, but I feel that this wilah is late 19th century through to 1930's, this guess could be completely wrong, there is nothing that I can see that would prevent this wilah from being a good quality recent production. Sunggingan keris dress requires a conscious care, a sunggingan keris worn on only a few occasions will very often show signs of that wear; this keris appears to be impeccable. It is not unusual for a keris that still has its wrongko from a previous generation, but that wrongko is damaged to the point of it being unable to be worn as an item of dress, to have the wrongko repaired and minimally re-shaped, and then have sunggingan work applied to hide the repairs, so if the inside of this wrongko looks old, but the sunggingan work is as untouched as it appears in the photos, this could well be the story with this keris. The blade photo is not all that clear, but it appears to be random mlumah with surface manipulation, perhaps classifiable as one of the sub-divisions of wos wutah.

4th September 2019, 10:50 AM	#5
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,898	Or, of course, you may be right, Jean. I've been saying for years that I can't tell much from photos, but even if it is recent, stylistically it is North Coast, and those motifs and colour scheme are a Chinese dream. Big Bob only got one "n"? Well, a man of his status deserves two. I see the ----mann form as being far more regal than the ----man form. But I think this auction was the Dr. Zimmermann collection, not Bob's collection --- Bob collects houses, its Ringo Starr who collects sharp pointy things

4th September 2019, 11:41 AM	#6
Green Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Malaysia Posts: 312	interesting and very likely that as Alan said, this keris may be commissioned by a Chinese gentleman. Decoration on the scabbard matches very well with old chinese satin attire. i can imagine a rather overweight and rich chinese merchant reclining on a sofa in his opium den in jakarta surrounded by his indonesian concubines smoking his bong while holding this keris and admiring it... it is a rather elegant keris to my untutored eyes....