PBX
 

Dear all,
I would like to share with you a keris which is dear to me. It is a type of sadjen but a special one. Large and the handle is different. The sheat shows a couple of lacquered seals showing the coat of arms of PBX. It used to be completely covered with these seals. Traces of them can still be seen all along the sheat, front and back. I examined the blade itself and found that it used to be completely covered with gold. Traces of that can be seen all along the blade, front and back, including the handle. I believe this to be a keris from kraton Surakarta, maybe even from the beloved susuhunan Paku Buwana himself or at least from of his inner circle. It is not a loud keris, not showing anything that enhances its status. It has not been cleaned nor patinated, just ages of applied oil. This confirms my information that keris from the kraton itself do not depend on a yearly cleaning. No idea about its age. It most certainly is much older than the PB X era. It takes a long time to loose al that gold from the metal skin.....

Interesting observations. I cannot say that i see the same things you do. Firstly, while i have seen lacquered pendoks and mendaks i have never seen lacquer placed over wood like this. I am not convinced the material is lacquer and you will certainly need to provide some much closer images to allow us to see the PBX coat of arms. I am also afraid that i can see no traces of gold on this blade or handle. I am not saying none exist, but it would seem unusual to me to find kinatah placed on a keris sajen, which is the type of keris this is, sajen referring to "offering".
I have attached an image of the "Radyalaksana" that PBX designed for his reign. However, even if this is what you are seeing on the red material that is in no way proof that this was once held in the Kraton. I have seen this seal embossed on the backs of many pendoks over the years and none of those keris ever saw the inside of the Kraton.
But perhaps if you could show us more images of the blade and close-ups of the seal we can come to some better conclusion.

PBX
 

Dear David,
Tahnk you for your kind reply.
Trust me, the seals are laquer. The crest is not the one you show but the two letters PB with a Roman number behind it. The crest you show can be found on alesan keris. This is the imprint of a seal. Parts of the same imprint and the visible fragments of the Roman number can be found on the other seals. They look worn. The fragments combined seem to form the X. The two letters ( PB same lettertype) also appear on wayang kulit with natural pigments, coming from the kraton.
The wooden sheat is painted black as if it were laquered black. The keris has provenance. The hulu appears in the book Keris-Griffe by Martin Kerner, pag.22.
The gold traces are genuine. I tried to photograph them but you need a macro lens to capture it properly. Even in the eye sockets of the hulu there are traces of gold. I agree it is very unusual to find gold traces the way they are to be found on this blade. That is why I turn to this community.

PBX
 

Forgot to include the pictures. Sorry.

I've worked the sealing wax a bit and I think I can see a "PB" on the top daub of wax.

The gandar does appear to have been lacquered, something that is not all that unusual in older dress.

But all of that doesn't give any evidence at all of previous ownership.

The keris itself is a very superior example of the type. Nice!

Thanks Alan, i do believe i can now see at least PB and part of a crown. But yes, still no proof of ownership.
I do agree that this looks like a very nice sajen which is why i hope Kulino might show us better images of the blade.
Have you seen keris sajen with kinatah before. That would be a new one for me.

Dear David, Mr Maisey,
Again thank you for your kind opinion. I agree, seals are no proof of ownership. I wonder why would anyone bother to put such an amount of seals on the keris dress? Also, I seem to miss a couple of pictures which I tried to upload. I'll try again.
On one of these pictures you can see the gold traces embedded but shining bright through the thick oily skin.
Again, the story I was told, is that pusaka belonging the kraton itself were not cleaned. This has to do with the order in creation. Keris are Irogdat. Humans are Kodrat. Kodrat do not serve Irogdat.
When humans pay hommage to keris they reverse the order of creation. This is ok for the world outside, but inside the kraton this rule was followed. It would empower the pusaka from the kraton. No irogdat from outside the kraton would be capable to stand against the pure kodrat- irogdat combination from inside the kraton.

Nope, never seen a keris sajen with kinatah. I do not understand why a keris sajen would be given kinatah. Its not as if you wear them.

Still, anything is possible.

Just a thought:- have the "gold" flecks been tested, or do they just look like gold?

Had a look at Kerner, he actually says its from the Solo Karaton, and he brackets the word (Furstenhof) which I guess is some sort of reference, but I don't know what. I don't read German. Any ideas who or what Furstenhof is?

Google reckons "furstenhof" means "a princely court", which fits, but is inaccurate, as the Surakarta Karaton is not the court of a prince, it is the dwelling place of a Ratu = king, queen, monarch.

Can't help but wonder where this keris did actually come from. Things bought out of the Karaton by outsiders very seldom actually come from the karaton.

Urubing damar variant
 

While I'm at it, your comments on this keris. Thin, light, smooth skin, probably wesi sembodja. Shows all signs of a proper keris kuno, Majapahit keris, maybe Sendang Sedayu. Pamor tiga sakler or some ilen variant. It is with me for years, checked all literature but can't find anything. I seem to recall to have seen something like it in Pirngadi or Groneman but....

Gold specs are tiny and all over the skin of the keris. As I already wrote, even in the eye sockets. When the sun shines on the wingkinan tiny highlights on the whole metal surface. Since they shine so bright and seem to be on the metal skin and not part of it I have no idea what else they could be. I know of metal with a scattered gold dust look, but this is nothing like it. It looks very much like gold traces I found on an old Rajah Kikik's kinatah. Most certainly not like copper, messing of any other besi kuning. They do not shine bright but stand out just because of the colour of the metal. These traces highlight.

PBX
 

Fürstenhof means royal court. Eventhough I knew Martin Kerner (I helped him out to translate some literature from dutch into german) I have reservations towards his research conclusions. But he knew the provenance of his keris collection most of the times. I believe mr Maisey and Martin Kerner were in contact also?

Thanks for your further comments Kulino.

In order to understand what you are telling us, I need a clear explanation of what you mean by "inside the karaton" and "outside the karaton". These terms are open to some very elastic interpretations, so can you nail it down?

Similarly with the idea of "keris belonging to the karaton" what exactly do you mean?

I do not know the exact current position with the things kept in the karaton store rooms --- if there is anything at all left there now --- but during the 1980's I did enter and handle some of the stored tosan aji there and I guess we could say these things were "karaton property" but even this is a bit of a queer idea, because it is all under the care of whoever the current Susuhunan is, thus, is it karaton property, or is it the property of Sinuhun?.

True, a lot of these items were not maintained, but it had nothing at all to do with "irogdat-kodrat" relationships, it had to do with available funds and priorities. The Karaton Susuhunan had no spare money. They did not have the monetary nor human resources necessary to properly maintain stored items that had not seen the light of day in maybe 100 years.

Individual members of the Karaton hierarchy, including Sinuhun himself did most certainly ensure that their personal possessions, including tosan aji in their care, were maintained. I saw Empu Suparman on more than one occasion carrying out warangan work for members of the royal family.

I'm not quite clear on exactly how "irogdat" should be understood, a few minutes ago I spoke with 4 native speakers of Javanese, in Solo, and none were quite sure of what the word meant, taken in context, they could guess, as can I, but clarity is lacking, even kodrat used in this way is a bit strange, even though kodrat is a common word.

What I do know is this:- karaton pusakas, and I'm talking here about all the pusakas, not just tosan aji pusakas--- are most certainly taken care of, and offerings are made to them.

This story about irogdat-kodrat relationship sounds like a good story to me, but it does not at all reflect what I have seen in action, nor what I have been taught. In fact, it has the distinct feel of something that is very Santri-centric.

Even the idea that "humans pay homage to a keris" is totally, totally off track. When an offering is made to a keris it is not made to the material presence of the keris, it is made to the spirit which may have entered the keris. The keris should be thought of in a similar way to the way in which we think of a shrine:- the shrine is just a momentary resting place for an aspect of God, when we make an offering at a shrine it is not the shrine that we make the offering to, it is the aspect of God that is momentarily resting there.

If we make an offering to a pusaka keris, that pusaka keris can be the shrine where our ancestors have entered for the moment. The keris is just a place for them to visit, its not the keris that is holy, but our ancestors, who may already have merged with God.

Yes, I did correspond with Martin Kerner. I did not agree with a lot of his ideas, but he was most certainly a gentleman.

The keris shown in post #9 cannot be classified as Majapahit if I apply the indicators used by Empu Suparman.

It lacks one dominant feature that militates against a Mojo classification, and that is the fact that it has a square blumbangan. A Mojo keris should have a rather narrow boto adeg blumbangan.

There are other problems with it as well, but I'd prefer not to make further comment because I do not have it in my hand. The blumbangan alone is sufficient to disallow Majapahit as a possibility.

As is generally agreed, tangguh is a vexed subject. It came out of Surakarta, and it arose to fulfil a specific need. The further we get from origin, the more the understanding of it becomes distorted. At the present time the system has become so corrupted that I seriously doubt if any true ahli keris from Central Jawa of 30 years ago would understand anything about the application of tangguh classifications at the present time.

Urubing damar variant
 

Elaborate
Dear mr. Maisey,
Thank you for your elaborate answer. I'm not sure how my education in keris compares to your knowledge. One of my teachers descended from the kraton Solo, my other teacher is related to the kraton Yogja. I believe them both to be honest and truthful. I would refer to inside the kraton as to the place where the Isi of the kraton is kept, guarded. Outside would be the face that is shown to the outside world.
However, I wonder if this is still a topic which should be discussed on this forum. I would be happier to exchange ideas in a different way.
Because of your response I will try to give words to my ideas.
I hope you agree with me that Javanese are very private persons. Sharing feelings, inner thoughts doesn' t come easy to them. As I was taught keris reflect large parts of this inner world, their personal inner world (if not all). Showing core pusaka and thus revealing your inner core during public cleaning ceremonies, would therefore impossible, not done. Fear of contamination, stealing Isi, giving insight in the inner core, a no go area.. I was told, the keris used during these ceremonies were copies. The real pusaka would stay inside, out of sight, guarded by the keepers.
Again, this story sounds very plausible to me. Apart from my two sources, I cannot verify this story. Saying it is true would reveal a plausible strategy, but also a scam. Denying it would support the current status: pure on the inside, stained/weak on the outside. This idea could be supported by the way the keris sajen looks. Nothing cosmetic, pure. The seals showing an intimate connection to Paku Buana.
To me, it is enough to relate to the keris who are in my house.
Not paying homage to keris does not mean, not caring or not looking after. They are family. One could consider this as a different perspective.
To me, it differs from keris to keris, depending on its function.

Do you have any comment on the dapur?

Who or what is PBX?

PBX = Sampeyan Dalam ingkang Sinuhun ingkang Minula saha ingkang Wijaksana Kanjeng Susuhanan Prabhu Sri Pakubuwono X Senapati ing Alaga Ngah 'Abdu'l-Rahman Saiyid ud-din Panatagama

He would have had a couple of Dutch honorifics as well, that I used to know but have forgotten.

He was the Susuhunan ( ruler ) of Surakarta from 1893 to 1939.

That's why we usually shorten the names of these Javanese rulers to "PB + number" for Surakarta, and "HB + number" for Jogjakarta. In normal conversation we refer to the current PB as "Sinuhun" , I cannot give a direct translation for "Sinuhun" but it is a term of address used for a ruler, maybe a bit like "Your Highness", or "Lord".

You can also hear it used by domestic servants to their employers, especially in a sarcastic tone and with elaborations.

Kulino, you may address me as Alan.

You have raised a number questions with your most recent post, and I will interpolate my responses.

Thank you for your elaborate answer. I'm not sure how my education in keris compares to your knowledge. One of my teachers descended from the kraton Solo, my other teacher is related to the kraton Yogja. I believe them both to be honest and truthful.

All people are honest and all people are truthful, however, honesty and truthfulness has different levels, thus honesty and truthfulness towards one person is not necessarily the same as honesty and truthfulness towards another person.
Then, in Jawa there is the ingrained cultural reflex that absolutely militates against the concept of gratuitous truth. In simple terms gratuitous truth is never welcome.
The natural result of this is that in a situation where one has a relationship with another person that permits the exchange of information in a form that is as accurate as the informant is prepared to indulge in, that accurate information will only come in response to a question that demonstrates that the person asking the question is ready to receive the accurate answer.

I would refer to inside the kraton as to the place where the Isi of the kraton is kept, guarded.

So in fact you were talking about the Royal Pusakas.
Yes, agreed, these can be regarded as objects to which access is severely limited.
However, it would be very wise to investigate the nature of the Royal pusakas of Surakarta, a good place to start might be Ricklefs: "The Missing Pusakas of Kartasura". Then of course we have the concept of 'mutrani'.

There are levels of knowledge and levels of permitted understanding.


Outside would be the face that is shown to the outside world.
However, I wonder if this is still a topic which should be discussed on this forum. I would be happier to exchange ideas in a different way.


For my part I have never put anything into this Forum nor into any other publicly accessible place that is unfit for general knowledge, nor will I.


Because of your response I will try to give words to my ideas.
I hope you agree with me that Javanese are very private persons. Sharing feelings, inner thoughts doesn' t come easy to them.

This depends totally upon the relationship, and upon the nature of the people involved. But yes, as a general rule it is correct behaviour to act in a restrained manner in public and with those judged to be on a different emotional level. As above, "gratuitous truth is unwelcome", and this means all gratuitous truth. The behaviour pattern is probably the result of the extremely hierarchical society.

As I was taught keris reflect large parts of this inner world, their personal inner world (if not all). Showing core pusaka and thus revealing your inner core during public cleaning ceremonies, would therefore impossible, not done.

The concept of public cleaning ceremonies never occurred to me. This is simply not done. If it occurs it is for the people who are still children. One does not parade one's personal possessions for all the world to see, and this applies most especially with one's keris, as the keris in fact represents the man who has custody of it.


Fear of contamination, stealing Isi, giving insight in the inner core, a no go area.. I was told, the keris used during these ceremonies were copies. The real pusaka would stay inside, out of sight, guarded by the keepers.

Any such ceremony, should it occur in Central Jawa could be regarded as sandiwara, something to amuse yg belum dewasa.


Again, this story sounds very plausible to me. Apart from my two sources, I cannot verify this story. Saying it is true would reveal a plausible strategy, but also a scam. Denying it would support the current status: pure on the inside, stained/weak on the outside. This idea could be supported by the way the keris sajen looks. Nothing cosmetic, pure. The seals showing an intimate connection to Paku Buana.
To me, it is enough to relate to the keris who are in my house.



What one truly believes is reality for he who truly believes it.
Nowhere is this more true than in Jawa, and within Javanese society, nowhere does this maxim apply more accurately than to keris related ideas.


Not paying homage to keris does not mean, not caring or not looking after. They are family. One could consider this as a different perspective.
To me, it differs from keris to keris, depending on its function.

"what one truly believes ---"

Do you have any comment on the dapur?

No, not really. I cannot give it an accurate name, it does not look like Jawa Tengah, but more like North Coast. In Solo I think most people would probably give it as campur bawur luk tujuh, but strictly speaking it cannot be campur bawur. Light gonjo, long point, North Coast or Madura Sepuh maybe.

Hallo Alan,

I don't have the context but it's nearly sure that he mean with "fürstenhof" simple the ceraton. "Fürst" is a german title of nobility and don't mean "prince". That's the traps of translation in fine! ;)
Regards,
Detlef

Thanks Detlef.

Yes, I understand the word now, and its not important. When I first saw it in brackets, I thought it might have been a reference that would supply more info, but clearly not.

Yes, he was probably trying to explain exactly what a kraton is --- something that is not easy, its not really a royal court or princely court or any kind of court, but in English, and I guess other European languages that might be about as close as we can get.

Yes, agree with you that "Fürstenhof" might be the closest "translation" for kraton he found and understand byself why he used this word. It's also a translation you can find in german guidebooks.

Ariel, i think you might find this answer a bit less "occult" than Alan's. ;)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakubuwono_X

He was a bit of a cult figure, still is if truth be known.

Really good at two things:- spending money and fathering children.

I've met a number of people who claimed that he was their ancestor, including my housekeeper, whose mother was one of the Karaton dancers.

Here he is:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakubu...r_10001903.jpg

Urubing damar variant
 

Dear Alan ,
You honour me with the privilege of using your first name. Thank you.
You are right, it is all what you choose to believe in.
Seems to work for me though.
The old ways appear to be on the verge of being lost.
When I asked my teacher if he was sad or sorry that all this knowledge is about to disappear he replied very philosophically, if it is worth something it will survive. If not, it will disappear.
True, but sad. This forum proves that there is still some interest, which is nice. Sharing ideas with you and your comments are a delight. I will post more interesting keris for your consideration.

Njirami could be interpreted as the occasion where the court pusaka would have been cleaned, publicly. I haven’t attended one personally so I can’t report first hand to what extend the used pusaka are clearly visible or how close the public could come to the site. Using private keris during this event would be impossible to me.

If you are into keris kuno, the ones from Madura are a pain. A few years ago I sat with pak Eko, a mranggi, ahli keris in the Yogja area and we discussed these keris, comparing old with new. He expected that in the near future it would be increasingly difficult to tell old from new, even for the experts. From what I see now, he was right. At least for the starting collector. You really have to have had hundreds of keris passing through your hands to tell right from wrong. And even then, there are the ones which make you doubt.
:shrug:

I feel myself that it is not a matter the value of something that permits it to survive, but rather its relevance, and within a society the relevance of anything varies dependent upon the layer or segment of society that is considered.

In Jawa, if we put a culturally based question, the same question, to people who come from different segments of the society, we will sometimes get very different answers. That which is relevant to a farmer who is still using traditional methods is not at all relevant to somebody who has completed a university degree and wants both himself, and his country to be seen as a part of the "Modern World".

Yes, I do understand the PR displays that the Karatons put on, but once again I do most sincerely suggest that the nature of at least the Surakarta pusakas be given a very close look.

In respect of identification of old keris, one does not need to have handled hundreds of keris. This is very, very far from reality.

One needs to have handled thousands of keris and to have handled a good number of those under the guidance of somebody who truly understands what he is looking at.

How to do this at the present time?

I do not know.

You gave better words to these concepts than I did. Since I'm not a native speaker in English it is always hard to find the correct words or phrases to express the nuances felt. Thank you Alan.
Indeed, over the last fourty years I saw thousands of keris passing through my hands, discussing them with many others, among which many ahli keris both in Europe and on Jawa. This is the only way to learn.
I'm used to look at lots of details like shapes of gandik, selassih, endas cicak, gandja, puncuk of the blade, definition of the pecetan area, the general appearance of the blad itself (condro), shape and construction of the peksi, all in combination with sound of the metal, skin, colour, weight, balance and sometimes even the scent. I find this not to be an exact science.
I'm always eager to learn more. Is is appropriate to ask where I can find the criteria Empu Suparman used for his determination?

Those indicators would be useless to you Kulino.

The indicators can be represented by words, certainly, but only the man himself could explain those words, and what they represented to him. Regrettably he left us many years ago.

While we are on the subject of words, may I enquire where you learnt the words you are using:-

"--- I'm used to look at lots of details like shapes of gandik, selassih, endas cecek, gandja, puncuk of the blade, definition of the pecetan area, the general appearance of the blad itself (condro), shape and construction of the peksi ---" ?

The words I use, some come from the discussions I had and have with others. Other words come from the long list of literature there is. Such as Kaliwon Pudjangga Kraton Surakarta by R.Ng. Ronggowarsito and other (alleged kraton) manuscripts.
They should indicate features or specific parts of the wingkinan. Like the head or tail of the ganja, the tip or the glow or sound of the metal, etc. Maybe misspelled or misguided in your opinion?

Additionally, I recognize in your words, the way I studied the meaning of pamor patterns. :)

AFTERTHOUGHT
 

Thank you for your response Kulino.

I think I might now understand a reason for your use of this rather strange terminology. I thought I might have been looking at keris terminology used by some particular keris study group, or perhaps terminology used in a place outside Jawa Tengah, but it seems this is not so.

Javanese is what linguists refer to as a "non-standardised language", in very simple terms this means that when spoken the speaker can change vowel and consonant order---or even the letters--- to provide a more pleasant delivery of the spoken word, the only rule is that the person to whom he is speaking must understand what is being said. This type of speech can develop into a game where each person is trying to outdo the other with his inventiveness.
When the original Javanese script of a printed or written word is transliterated into roman text, there can be degree of inconsistency in the spellings. This becomes particularly confusing when trying to correctly pronounce Javanese words printed in the modern era with type faces that make no provision for the necessary diacritical marks. This means that the only way one can reliably pronounce the word is to have been taught how to pronounce it. In this way, spoken Javanese is similar to English.

So, what all this comes down to is that it is difficult to fault anybody on spellings used in Javanese written in roman text.

However, when the spellings used do not render a clear meaning, or in fact render an incorrect meaning, then we have problems.

Below I have listed the words you have used that cause me some difficulty, and have commented on use of these words:-



endhas the term "endas cecak" is correctly given as "sirah cecak", which is more polite than "endas cecak".
If one wished to obliquely insult both Javanese indigenous belief, and/or the present custodian of a keris one could give a degree of insult by using the ngoko word in relation to the sirah cecak of the related keris, rather than using the krama inggil term. To understand why it is necessary to respect a keris, especially a pusaka keris, or a personal keris, one needs to understand the relationships of the keris in Javanese culture

cecek the word "cecek" means a dot or a point, I believe the word that was intended is "cecak", which is a kind of small house lizard
Thus your "endhas cecek" should be "sirah cecak", the broad end of the gonjo, given this name because of the similarity in form to the head of that small house lizard.
sirah(kr) = head, endhas(ng) = head

puncuk = as far as I can determine there is no Javanese word "puncuk", but there are several similar words, listed below; I'm guessing that you mean "pucak", or maybe "puncak" and using that word to indicate the point of the keris.
puncu = to point a sharp weapon
puncon = mountain peak
pucak = summit
puncak (Bahasa Indonesia) = top of a mountain

The correct word to use in Surakarta terminology for the point of a keris is "panetes", from "tetes" :- "able to be pierced by something", "panetes" : "able to pierce something"



condro = as far as I can determine there is no Javanese word "condro", the nearest I can get to this is "condre", an alternate pronunciation for "cundrik", a dagger.
You say that "condro" means the general appearance of the blade. The word normally used for this is "pawakan" or "wangun". Pawakan refers specifically to the posture of a man, wangun refers to appearance, design , shape, pawakan is the more polite term.

peksi --- in Javanese the word "peksi" means "bird", it is krama, the word for a keris tang is "pesi" .

The alternate pronunciation of "peksi" (bird) is "pesi". As in B.I., the Javanese "k" is a glottal stop, which means it is often very difficult to hear when spoken crudely or fast, thus some people habitually gloss it and omit the glottal stop altogether
This similarity in words has led to ongoing, and sometimes very funny error on the part of non-native speakers of Javanese

wingkinan = As far as I can determine, there is no Javanese word "wingkinan". I believe the word intended is "wingkingan", which means "back, rear" in Modern Javanese, in Old Javanese it also meant the buttocks or backside.

"Wingkingan" has an alternate meaning which refers to time.
It is not an alternate word for the keris.
The correct word to refer to a complete keris when worn at the back is "wangkingan". "Wangkingan" comes from "wangking" which in Modern Javanese means "slim waisted", but in Old Javanese simple meant "waist", so something worn at the waist becomes "wangkingan".

The blade alone of the keris cannot be referred to as a "wangkingan", nor can a keris that is not being worn be referred to as a "wangkingan", the use of "wangkingan" is strictly limited to a keris being worn at the back. The level of the word "wangkingan" is krama inggil.

This confusion between "wingkingan" and "wangkingan" is very common, even amongst native speakers of Javanese, about the only people who consistently get it right seem to be people who are involved with keris, or who regularly need to dress in a formal fashion.

selassih --- as far as I can determine there is no Javanese word "selassih", the nearest I can get to this is "selasih/slasih" which is kind of herb, I think the herb might be basil.
"selasih/slasih" is an alternate form of "tlasih"


Just to clarify:- I am not a walking Javanese dictionary, yes, I do have some low level Javanese (ngoko), but I cannot use krama or krama inggil. However, I do have immediate access to a number of native speakers of Javanese, and I do own textbooks and dictionaries. I was able to address most of the above from my own knowledge, but a couple of the words were simply beyond me, and also beyond my other sources.

I enjoyed trying to work out what you were saying, it was a learning experience.Thank you.

However, in your own best interests, I most sincerely suggest that you request your teachers to assist you in learning some basic Javanese.

EDIT

The image is taken from Haryono Haryoguritno's "Keris Jawa", which at the present time can probably be regarded as the standard reference for just about everything relating to physical aspects of the Javanese keris. It is a book that really should be in the library of every person interested in keris

I stand corrected. I always try to stay to the original source as close as possible.
So close to the Pujangga and other Javanese manuscripts, some of which were transcribed in Latin writing using old spelling (s.a. dr W.F Vogels, a translation from 1878 and Over de kerisvormen, (about the shapes of keris) translation from Brouwers en Winters, from around 1900 ), Van Hien’s Javaansche Geestenwereld (Javanes world op spirits, old Dutch spelling), Groneman, Pirngadie, etc..
The road from Hanacaraka to old spelling Dutch, old spelling Indonesian to new spelling Bahasa Indonesian is challenging. It is my fault. Thank you for your update. A few years ago one of my Javanes friends and I started out to translate the Empu and metal section of the Pujangga transcription of Ronggowarsito into Dutch. Winginkinan punika ingkang sae could refer both to the way the keris is worn or to the keris being good. Some translations we tried to make are very hard just because of the lack of comparison. When a metal is descibed as having the glow of a glatik, one has to know the small bird's shine. The flower language is beyond my reach entirely. My friends Javanese was a combination between the varieties spoken in central Jawa and Sundanese :)
Nevertheless all this information, verified or discarded by my teachers and other partners in discussions made me observing and interpreting the aspects mentioned, and more. Since it is partly interpretation, I find this not to be an exact science. Same applies to the meaning of pamor. Studying it for years, it teaches one to read. Form and not yet content, reading is not the same as understanding

Hello Kulino,

Welcome to the actively participating forumites! (Sorry for coming in on this thread a bit late.)


Thanks for showing this really nice keris sajen - I do like it! Could you please show a pic of the hilt from the side? It does look like only the torso is being shown here (with the usually bent legs being omitted), doesn't it?

Any comments from Theo Alkema on this piece? ;)


Are you sure that the red dots along the scabbard are really sealing wax rather than older paint? I'd have guessed that the black and red was old and worn sunggingan and that the seal got placed on the scabbard much later, possibly to "prove" the keraton connection (their placement at the back of the scabbard would not only pretty much obligate any wear of the keris (for which it was never meant) but also make hanging or storing it more difficult. It does look as if the lacquered surface next to the seals got affected by the heat.


This certainly does not look like the usual kinatah. From the close-up it seems that the little specks of gold sit in tiny crevices or on top of the patina. This would suggest it being added much later; fully covering a blade with leaf gold is fairly easy and not terribly expensive - it also rubs off quite fast. Without any sound provenance to rely on, it will be very tough to establish the real age of this keris or when (or for what reason) the gold got applied.

OTOH, I don't think this really matters: It is a really good example of its type coming with an old, interesting scabbard - congrats!

Regards,
Kai