Balinese Keris hilt ID

[mariusgmioc]

Can somebody please enlighten me who the guy of this Balinese Keris hilt is?

[David]

I think many might describe him as Bayu the father of Bhima. Here is my own example in brass with a gold wash.

[A. G. Maisey]

Marius, one of the problems in identification of the characters depicted in Balinese hilts is that very often these characters are not sculpted in a way that will permit identification by the use of the traditional indicators.

With a hilt that has been recently made, such as the one on the keris you have shown, it is nearly always quite impossible to affix any sort of positive identification to the character shown. The reason for this is that the artists who make these hilts no longer necessarily follow traditional patterns; they set out to create an art work, rather than a culturally accurate representation of a deity or folk character.

Occasionally we may be able to find one or more attributes that will allow us to say that a particular hilt is intended to show such & such a character, but even then, it will be a rare occasion when we can claim a positive, inarguable identification.

A couple of years ago, Bapak Sutejo Neka, owner of the Neka Gallery in Ubud, a member of the Pande Clan, and one of Bali's acknowledged authorities on Balinese art, wrote a little book on Balinese keris (Understanding Balinese Keris). When he describes Balinese keris hilts, his identifications of the characters very often become something like:- "a royal figure", "a representation of a king". If this is the best that one of the leading authorities on Balinese keris art can do, I rather feel that people such as ourselves should not expect to always be able to fix a name on a character depicted in a Balinese keris hilt.

[mariusgmioc]

I understand, and that explains why there is so much confusion about this topic. Thank you very much!

In May I will go to Indonesia and I am planing to get a few kerises from there. Can you please give me some hints where I can find some? What about this "Neka" gallery in Ubud. Do they have kerises for sale as I will be in Ubud for at least a couple of days?

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Marius, one of the problems in identification of the characters depicted in Balinese hilts is that very often these characters are not sculpted in a way that will permit identification by the use of the traditional indicators.

While i do understand your reluctance to ID this figure i do have to say that this hilt does indeed have indicators that should allow us (or somebody) to identify it. While i certainly agree that the artists of many new Bali hilts tend to use a good deal of "poetic" license in their design, the hilt shown here by Marius does seem to follow fairly closely to the design of a commonly accepted Balinese hilt form which i believe has been around at least since pre-WWII times and perhaps earlier. The common indicators on these hilts are generally the body position, jeweled crown, right arm across the body holding a stylized fan (or mirror?), left hand in a mudra position usually with extended fingers (or nails?). Since this figure appears again and again with all of these same features i can only presume that there was originally some intention as to his identity beyond "royal figure". I have heard this figure referred to as Bayu for quite some time, but i am unaware of the exacting reasons for this identification. Bayu is a wind god AFAIK so perhaps people have regarded the fan as an indicator of that persona. Perhaps the mudra connects the figure as a godly one due to the ritual nature of the hand sign. I write this not to defend the attribution of Bayu per se since i cannot personally be sure that is correct from my own researched information, but only to point out that this particular figure has been used and portrayed in pretty much this same exact manner for enough time that it seems most likely to me that there must be some original intention as to the identity of this character, even if he has been mistakenly identified as Bayu all this time.

[A. G. Maisey]

David, I do not suggest for one moment that this hilt under discussion can be described as a royal figure, I used this term simply to demonstrate that one of Bali's foremost authorities on the art of his homeland is frequently unable to give a positive identification of the figures depicted in totogan hilts.

Speaking for myself, these days I am extremely hesitant to give a positive identification of a Balinese hilt unless the indicators are inarguable.

I cannot disagree that both of the hilts shown might be Bayu.

Equally, I am not able to agree that both hilts definitely are intended to be Bayu, in spite of the long standing identification of this hilt form by keris collectors, as Bayu.

Maybe Bayu, may not be Bayu. I simply do not know for certain, so I reserve my opinion.

Actually, the way I read your initial post, you are saying pretty much the same thing:-

"--- many might describe him as Bayu ---"

Here is another of the same form.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

David, I do not suggest for one moment that this hilt under discussion can be described as a royal figure, I used this term simply to demonstrate that one of Bali's foremost authorities on the art of his homeland is frequently unable to give a positive identification of the figures depicted in totogan hilts.

Hello Alan,
In his previous book "Keris Bali Bersejarah" Pande Wayan Suteja Neka does identify most of the "royal" figures depicted on togogan hilts (Prabu Ratmaja, Dewa Indra, etc.), however he just describes few of them as Prabu or Prabu kreasi baru (new creation). It is surprising that none of these figures is identified as Bayu although many of the figures which he calls Prabu Ratmaja are very similar to the ones attributed to Bayu. What a confusion!
Regards

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Maybe Bayu, may not be Bayu. I simply do not know for certain, so I reserve my opinion.

Actually, the way I read your initial post, you are saying pretty much the same thing:-

"--- many might describe him as Bayu ---"

Here is another of the same form.

Indeed you are correct Alan, i was taking this approach simply because i simply do not possess any solid evidence myself that allows me to describe this character as Bayu with any sense of certainty. However, that said it is clear that this particular fellow has been identified by at least a segment of the keris collecting world as Bayu for some time. Why? It is also clear that the hilts that are IDed as Bayu all share the same indicators that i mentioned before in their form so it does seem most likely that all these hilts, Marius' example, my example and your exceptional example are indeed all intended to depict the same character. I kind of felt that your approach at this point is to throw up your hands and count this as an unsolvable mystery where as my thought is that perhaps through continued inquery we might eventually be able to come to terms with the question. I am curious, for instance, when this hilt style may have first been identified as Bayu and what reasoning that person may have had for making that assessment. Dies anybody have a clue? As i have already stated, there are indeed quite a number of indicators in the form of these hilts that repeat again and again in each example. The fan in the right hand, the mudra sign on the left hand, the jeweled crown, even the garments the figure wears are pretty much the same in each and every one of the example of this hilt that i have seen. So i don't think we can look at Marius' hilt and say that it does not follow a traditional pattern of some sort simply because it is a recently made hilt. It follows the same pattern as the others before it. I remain fairly convinced that whoever this figure is he is supposed to be a particular representation that is clearly the same in all these examples. It is, of course, possible that we might never get to the bottom of this, but i don't think we should completely drop the inquiry simple because Bapak Sutejo Neka chooses not to place a specific ID on this figure.

[mariusgmioc]

Yes, it appears to be the same "Bayu" guy! Thank you!

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by David

I think many might describe him as Bayu the father of Bhima. Here is my own example in brass with a gold wash.

Thank you very much for your help! It certainly looks very similar so I guess it might be Batara Bayu.