three Bali Keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Hugh, Bapak (Bp. = Mr.) Prawirodiharjo has moved to the unseen world many years ago, possibly 20 or so years, the abbreviation Alm. = "almarhum" which means deceased.

He was known by a different name in the keris trade, & I would prefer not to use that other name. He came from a very long line of m'ranggis & pande keris, he was an extremely talented man, but was unknown outside the Central Javanese keris trade. He would not normally deal with the general public, but if somebody was personally introduced to him by one of his regular clients he was open to taking orders.

Everybody believes that keris production stopped in Jawa from before WWII, however this gentleman & his father & other members of his family were making keris that were copies of mostly Mataram keris, often with kinatah work, that were only available to the trade, from before the Japanese occupation through to the 1990's. He was the last of his line. His son did not follow family tradition but became a breeder of pigeons & doves.

I have this knowledge because I was a member of the keris trade in Central Jawa from about 1974 until 2015. I was trained by some of best known empus & m'ranggis in Solo.