Something worth a passing glance

[A. G. Maisey]

I am not much given to the show & tell thing, & I am not at all in favour of displaying any of my personal keris. However, this keris is about to go to a new home, and the pendok is one of the best that I have ever handled, it is the work of Pak Dayadi (Alm.) a formidable craftsman from Solo, who left us some years ago.

I have not seen work to rival this in many years.

I feel that this dress is worth a passing glance, perhaps a little more than this.

[A. G. Maisey]

Higher res pendok

[drdavid]

Amazing pendok Alan, thank you for showing. Should the iconography (5 claw dragon and Feng Hua) make us think this was made for someone prominent from a Chinese background
DrD

[A. G. Maisey]

No, not really, this is a late 20th Century Solonese pendok, the pattern books of the craftsmen who produce these works of art are full of motifs that come from many cultures. The execution of this particular pendok is vastly better than most examples that we might come across, but the actual motifs in this day & age are not exclusively Javanese.

[Green]

Interesting. But this Chinese motifs are not exactly an art in the original keris culture.By which I mean (currently Muslim Keris world of the nusantara) and even Hindu Bali? In fact I would hazard a guess that this is not typical and a one off.

I would be happy to be proven wrong and appreciate any explanation.

[A. G. Maisey]

The arts & crafts of both Jawa & Bali are influenced by other cultures. There are multiple examples of this. If we go back to the Central Javanese Classical period of around 600 to 1100CE, we find that at at that time Javanese art was influenced by Indian cultures, especially the Guptas.

In later times Chinese culture had extremely heavy influence on both Javanese & Balinese art. If we look at the Batik patterns of most especially the North Coast of Jawa what we find is both the use of Chinese motifs, and Javanese motifs that have been influenced by Chinese motifs. In Bali we again find that Chinese culture has permeated Balinese culture . A very good & well known example of this is the Barong dance.

European influence in Jawa has resulted in formal Javanese dress being a mixture of the indigenous sarung & the European waist length jacket. During the 19th century European influence so permeated the elite levels of Javanese society that by the time of Pakubuwana X the entire Karaton was following European style.

As for the idea of "--- original keris culture --- " it is undeniable that the people of any society own the culture that relates to that society, & in Jawa influences from outside the society have been accepted and adapted to Javanese use. At the present time it is almost impossible to separate elements of Javanese, & also Balinese, style that is absolutely indigenous to the the society & culture of Jawa & Bali, and that is not the result of the permeation of those societies & cultures by elements from outside the original society & culture. This gradual shaping of a culture & a society is an ongoing process:- the people who form the society own its related culture, & they decide what is a part of their culture & what is not.

In respect of this particular pendok, it is not a one off, I ordered it from the pattern book of Pak Dayadi. Over the time I knew this highly talented artist/craftsman I ordered other very high quality pendok from him also, & these were used on new, very high quality Kamardikan keris, some of the motifs would be recognizable as having their roots in indigenous Javanese motifs, for example, "sekar melati", however other motifs are undeniably European in origin, especially those that use grapes as the base motif, such as "sekar anggur" or "buah anggur". Other motifs might have the elements of the motif absolutely identifiable with Javanese roots, but then the execution of those elements will be in a style that is reminiscent of Chinese style, for example the "pring-pringan" motif.

What we are looking at with this particular pendok is an example of late 20th century Surakarta keris art that has been produced by one of the most highly respected and most talented Surakarta pendok artists of all time.

Yes, I agree, it is perhaps difficult to reconcile what can be seen in this pendok with what we usually see in a Javanese pendok, & this is quite simply because work of this level of excellence is almost never seen unless one has access to the elite artist/craftsmen of the World of the Keris, or perhaps people who might possess some of the work of these talented men.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by drdavid

Amazing pendok Alan, thank you for showing. Should the iconography (5 claw dragon and Feng Hua) make us think this was made for someone prominent from a Chinese background
DrD

Dragons with five claws show the privilege of the emperor and the rest of royal family members. The rest of the population can only use dragons with four claws in their decorations.

[Rick]

Here's a pendok that shows some interesting open work with a red velvet cover beneath.
I stopped counting the stones mounted on it after a hundred or so.

[Ian]

Alan,

I am very grateful that you posted this beautiful example of Javanese metalwork. It is exquisitely executed and of a very high standard. It appears virtually flawless. The pendok reminds me of bas relief carving, with a 3-D appearance based on subtle layering of the objects.

On a similar note, I am delighted with the item that I purchased from you recently that also has excellent silver work.

These works of art are national treasures.