Latest acquisition

[Pendita65]

Hi All,


I bought several items at an auction in the Netherlands a golok, a Keris Yogyakarta Gayaman and a Tombak with sheath the tombak shows pamor

And a nice 19th/ early 20th Century Keris with a Warangka Gayaman (Kayu Pelet), Ivory Madura Ukiran. Silvered Selut with stones. The Wilah inlaid with dots and carved with a Naga and 11 Luk. A silvered pendok that needs restoration. I already restored the mendak as it fell apart so I made a new inner sleeve where all the parts slide over and hammered it carefully together again.
I am not sure if the inlay is gold but it looks like it.

Hope to learn more about this Keris through the forum.

Thanks and best wishes, Martin.

[David]

Hi Martin. For me it is really difficult to give a good assessment of this keris based on the photographs you have provided. First off o would like to see the blade photographed flat, not approaching from the an angle as you have, so that i can see the actual proportion of the blade elements. Also an image of the entire blade in one photograph would be helpful. Try to photograph it in better, even light so that that you can get sharper, more detailed images. Overcast skies can provide a nice even lighting for this. I don't think the blade is particularly old given the way the features (naga and greneng) have been carved, so it is strange to see the hole worn through the blade (usually this would be caused by many generations to acid washing). So i am not certain if this blade was intentionally aged or not. Better photos might answer that question.
Your hilt does appear to be old ivory and this type of hilt is from East Jawa/Madura and is called Donoriko. Yours does not seem to have been carved with a great deal of detail as some others and it has a good bit of damage. But again, better photos would be helpful.

[Sajen]

Hello Martin,

I agree with David, better pictures would be very helpful.
But I think that the blade is kamardikan and crudely executed. The handle is antique but not worked with great skill and very worn, compare it with other donoriko hilts (just use by the search function the keyword "donoriko").

Regards,
Detlef

[Pendita65]

Hello David and Detlef,

Thank you for the information, I see there is more to learn for me.

I will see if it stays in the collection. The other Keris has an interesting blade that is covered in a dammar varnish that I need to remove. Will post pictures soon. The gander is almost complete gone and the pendok was filled with old newspaper so that the Keris fitted well. The pendok has some serious dents damage. Must see if I keep it that way or if I can repair it.

Best wishes, Martin

[A. G. Maisey]

In respect of the dragon blade.

It is not an old one, "old" being back into the 19th century --- this "old" idea can wander around more or less according to the feelings of the person who is providing the opinion, so "old" might be pre-1640 or so, or it might be 1978 or so.

My feeling about this particular blade is that it could be 1920's through to mid-1970's, before 1980, but excluding +/- the period of Japanese occupation during WWII.

The hilt is not a masterpiece, as already noted, but it is true to form and all keris & their dress do come in varying qualities, the difference between best & lesser items is usually expressed in $$$$.

Regarding the Jogja keris.
Varnish is easy to remove, depending on exactly what kind of "varnish" it is it might move with methylated spirits, or you might need some other solvent, but it will come off.

The pendok should not be much of a job to straighten out, a piece of 1cm round steel bar clamed horizontal in a vice & inserted into the pendok will permit the dents to be straightened out, finger pressure is usually enough.

A new gandar can be made in two halves & then fitted to the gambar (atasan), and a few spots of Araldite or similar adhesive along the joint will hold the two halves in place. If the gambar has a foot, button shellac might be the wisest adhesive to use for fixing gandar to gambar, I say "wisest" because a button shellac joint is easily detached and gives you the opportunity to correct a poor fit.

All these items can be brought back to decent condition without much effort.

[Pendita65]

Mr. Maisey,
Thank you for your response to my posting. And I think it,s made before WW2.But I can’t prove this.

There was dammar varnish also on the tombak and this I scraped of with my thumbnail. I will do that with the Keris blade as well. As a teacher in furniture restoration the woodwork ain’t a problem. I haven’t found out what kind of wood the gander is made off. It is a very light wood and to my feeling the sapwood part of wood but what species I don’t, have a clue.
Can I ask you what you mean with a foot at a gambar ?
I post some pics of the Javanese Keris. I think underneath the varnish is a nice pamor as you can see in the picture.

Best wishes for 2024 as at your part it already is the new year.

Martin

[A. G. Maisey]

The foot of the atasan is the part of the atasan that projects below the body and accepts the tongues of the gandar, not all wrongkos have this foot.

The damage to the gandar is not at all unusual in Javanese wrongkos, a normal fix is as you described, just some newspaper or a couple of pieces of light cardboard fixed in place. Yes, a new gandar would be a distinct improvement, we use a tool called a segrek to hollow out the inside of the gandar. If we make it without a joint, the easy way to make one is from two pieces of wood, it should be a soft wood.

This appears to be a pretty fair sort of a blade, it will restore well, in my opinion it is definitely pre-WWII, probably second half 19th century.

This entire keris has the potential to be restored into a very nice keris.

Terminology.

the entire scabbard is called a wrongko (warangka) in Jawa.

the top cross part is the atasan (top piece) or gambar

the pendok & gandar you know

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Pendita65

Mr. Maisey,
Thank you for your response to my posting. And I think it,s made before WW2.But I can’t prove this.

There was dammar varnish also on the tombak and this I scraped of with my thumbnail. I will do that with the Keris blade as well. As a teacher in furniture restoration the woodwork ain’t a problem. I haven’t found out what kind of wood the gander is made off. It is a very light wood and to my feeling the sapwood part of wood but what species I don’t, have a clue.
Can I ask you what you mean with a foot at a gambar ?
I post some pics of the Javanese Keris. I think underneath the varnish is a nice pamor as you can see in the picture.

Best wishes for 2024 as at your part it already is the new year.

Martin

Happy New Year Martin!

Your second keris I like much more than the other one! When you are used to working with wood it will be an easy project for you to give it a new gandar. Be very careful with the pendok, the material looks very thin to my eyes. It's not the best pendok I've seen of this type but a good one and worth restoration.
The complete keris is a gayaman keris in Jogya style, blade is dapur tilam upih and the pamor is nice, maybe batu lapak, surely worth getting a new stain. Nice keris and I am curious to see it restored.
This will be a very nice keris for every collection IMVHO.

Regards,
Detlef

[Pendita65]

Hello Detlef,

thank you for the message and hope you had a gute rutsch ins neue jahr too.
I don't see any problems creating a gandar ain't a difficult task for me. Will search for some djati sapwood as i don't want to use European or African wood for this. Will post pictures as soon as i start with the project.

Best wishes, Martin

[Pendita65]

Hi all,

I cleaned my Keris from the dammar varnish today and this is how it looks now I took some images from the wilah. I also had in my spare parts a nice old silvered pendok for it.

The pamor is it Batu lupak or is it pamor kul buntet? I am trying to identify it but it’s difficult for me.
Hope some of the experts can tell me more.

Regards, Martin.

[David]

Originally Posted by Pendita65

I cleaned my Keris from the dammar varnish today and this is how it looks now I took some images from the wilah. I also had in my spare parts a nice old silvered pendok for it.

Martin, i'm not seeing the photos on my end.

[A. G. Maisey]

I believe most people would classify the pamor in the sorsoran as Kul Buntet.

[kai]

It doesn't look inserted to me, Alan.

To me, this motif at the base seems to be a part of the overall pamor (with much of it now lost to erosion).

Regards,
Kai

[Pendita65]

The photo’s after taking off the dammar varnish

[A. G. Maisey]

I tend to disagree Kai, erosion and the necessary coldwork has taken a part of the swirl, I feel that this swirl might be continued into the pesi, & and if that is so, then that pesi will have been attached to the blade after the body of the blade had been forged, however, this is just a possibility being floated, because we cannot know that without seeing the pesi, especially under the gonjo.

In any case, whether the kul buntet was inserted as a swirl, or whether the maker was sufficiently skilled to create a swirl in one part of a larger motif, the end result is still the same:- kul buntet.

If it is a part of a larger motif, is that larger motif mlumah or miring?

Incidentally, on the subject of "insertion" of a pamor feature, in some cases we can form a hole, or even an impression in the material, & then lay the swirl or whatever into it, but it is also sufficient just to lay the additional piece of pamor onto the already forged material, then cover it with another piece of material that gets removed during the cold work.

[Pendita65]

Originally Posted by David

Martin, i'm not seeing the photos on my end.

Hi David i guess something went wrong with the photo's i just posted them again.

[Pendita65]

Detail of the pendok as replacement.

[David]

The replacement pendok looks good Martin, though i do believe with just a little bit of effort you could restore the original one to a fairly decent condition.

[Pendita65]

Thanks David, and yes i will see if i can get the old one in a more acceptable state. The blade is cleaned from rust and i think it's ready for a warangan treatment. This hobby is also addictive, could not resist to buy some Keris today and a nice rencong in need of some tlc.
They seem to come across my path the last few weeks so each week i bought some projects to work on.

[Pendita65]

Thanks David, will have a go at trying to get the wrinkles out of.

[Pendita65]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I tend to disagree Kai, erosion and the necessary coldwork has taken a part of the swirl, I feel that this swirl might be continued into the pesi, & and if that is so, then that pesi will have been attached to the blade after the body of the blade had been forged, however, this is just a possibility being floated, because we cannot know that without seeing the pesi, especially under the gonjo.

In any case, whether the kul buntet was inserted as a swirl, or whether the maker was sufficiently skilled to create a swirl in one part of a larger motif, the end result is still the same:- kul buntet.

If it is a part of a larger motif, is that larger motif mlumah or miring?

Incidentally, on the subject of "insertion" of a pamor feature, in some cases we can form a hole, or even an impression in the material, & then lay the swirl or whatever into it, but it is also sufficient just to lay the additional piece of pamor onto the already forged material, then cover it with another piece of material that gets removed during the cold work.

Thanks Mr. Maisey for the info. and my excuses for replying so late

best wishes, Martin