Old Javanese keris for comment

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Jean, your observations are correct, but when I also noted these, my thoughts were that we would really need to see and handle this keris to be sure about what was happening with it. Look at the curve in the top of the gambar, it is quite steep, but after the initial"kick", it seems to flatten out, maybe this blade sits reasonably well in the gambar.

One of the rules of thumb that a m'ranggi will use in fitting a blade is not that the curve of the gonjo must follow the curve of the gambar, but that the sirah cecak and the buntut urang should be covered, now, if we get a slightly less than expert m'ranggi, what he is likely to do is to permit the form of the gambar to be prioritised over the shape of the gonjo.

With the fit of the pendok, that can depend upon the thickness of the gambar, and if the gambar form is prioritised over the fit of pendok --- something that does not really matter, because when worn we do not see the transition from pendok to gambar --- then of course there will be gaps. We find this often enough in run of the mill Central Jawa pieces, so for something like this ensemble, which is way outside the mainstream, the pendok fit to me, does not seem to be very important.

Of course, with it in the hand, all prognostications could well be reversed.

The thing that makes me think this is not a dealer's melange is the fit of that selut/mendak to the hilt, it looks like it was made for it. If this sort of trouble was taken, it seems likely that there would have been some effort go into the rest of it, even if it was slightly misdirected effort.