Another Surakarta Keris

[JustYS]

Another Kamardikan Surakarta Keris for your comments.

Happy New Year to all.

[kai]

Hello YS,

Thanks for posting - looks like a recent piece to me.

I don't think this blade should be hold to keraton standards. One general question regarding the wengkon pamor though: Would the sogokan/kruwingan carving biting into the wengkon layer be considered a flaw for high-end keris? Or would an even exposure be the main goal aimed for?

Regards,
Kai

[A. G. Maisey]

Kai, Jaga did say that it is kamardikan, so yeah, it is recent, & he did not claim that it is "high end", Javanese high end starts a lot further up the dollar ladder than I think this keris might have cost Jaga.

But this keris is certainly within Surakarta parameters.

The dress is very fine, the blade has been made to a high standard.

Exposure of pamor within the sogokan is something that depends upon the method used to weld the blade, it has nothing at all to do with any evaluation of quality, however, the exposure of pamor within the body of the blade is something that would have been better avoided if possible.

The absolute ideal for pamor wengkon is that the wengkon line follows the blade edge & pamor is not exposed in the kruwingan, however, this ideal is seldom met. Back in the 1980's & 1990's it was pretty well known that only one currently working pande was consistently capable to meeting this very high level of excellence. The ideal is not even exposure of the pamor, except when that pamor is wos wutah wengkon, the ideal when the pamor is only wengkon is non exposure of the pamor in the kruwingen. Very few makers have ever been capable of this. Jayasukadgo could achieve this standard, but Jayasukadgo work is very, very distant from any kamardikan work, & in fact from the work of most other makers of any era.

All blades need to be appraised in accordance with the standards that apply to the particular classification of blade.

If we are talking Kamardikan & we are talking Surakarta Karaton, then only two makers really qualify for appraisal of their work in accordance with those Karaton standards, those two makers are Empu Suparman Supowijoyo, and Pande Keris Seni Pauzan Pusposukadgo.

Yes, since the passing of Susuhunan Pakubuwana XII a couple of other makers have been accepted as members of the Surakarta Karaton hierarchy, but it is perhaps wise not to get involved in discussion about this.

[Gavin Nugent]

As my knowledge on the subject is only superficial, all I can add that from a visual appreciation, to me, this is very beautiful and very well balanced in all aspects....and that pendok, I love it!

Well done and congratulations, one for future generations, thanks for sharing.

[JustYS]

Hi Kai,

Yes I know it is recent, hence I said Kamardikan.

I might have confused you by saying Surakarta Kamardikan, but I have under no illusion that my Keris is Keraton Surakarta Keris quality, what I meant is (like Alan also said), it has Surakarta parameters.

This Keris was made by probably the last still active “anak-anak” ASKI or at least from his besalen.

Hi Alan,

I think you might have confused me with Jagabuwana…..hehehe

Could you please kindly explain what is the difference between pamor wengkon wow wutah and pamor wengkon isen?

Thank you.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah, I did --- get confused I mean.

Like they say:- speed kills.

Where the only pamor visible is the line that follows the edge, this is Pamor Wengkon, most pamor wengkon blades are made without any carved characteristics, like kruwingan & etc, they are usually dhapur brojol, or at best Tilam Upih.

When a blade is made with Pamor Wengkon, & it has deep kruwingan & etc, it is a blade that has been made in a way that went out of use a long time ago, by providing a body of plain iron, then inletting a steel edge, and laying down the pamor to follow the edge & then placing plain iron over it. When a blade has been made this way, there is no side to side layer of pamor, & you can go into it as deep as you like and not find pamor. But as I said, people have not made blades like this in more than maybe 200 years, it was simply too hard.

When a blade is made with a wengkon, sometimes that wengkon will be overlaid with another pamor, which is usually Wos Wutah, but depending on the skill of the maker, other more complex pamor motifs might also be used.

Gavin, yes, that pendok is an extremely fine piece of work.

[kai]

Thanks for all your responses!

Apologies, YS, for my terse comment (I was trying to refer to later kamardikan, probably around turn of the century?) and for sidetracking things with my more general question.

Yes, the fittings are crafted in very fine quality. I suppose the pendok got crafted by pak Dayadi. Congrats, YS!

While pamor wengkon may look simple, I realise that is extremely tough to get perfect. Thus, I was trying to obtain clarification on the goal any high-level smith would be expected to strive for. Thanks, Alan, for answering my question and adding details on bladesmithing methods!

Regards,
Kai