Keris Sundang Melayu with twist core

A. G. Maisey · 20th June 2013, 01:58 AM

Thanks for your input Kai.

The question really is:-

when did complex pamor miring motifs begin to appear in Jawa?

My answer is:-

I do not know

My qualification is:-

perhaps complex pamor miring did not appear in Central Jawa until the late 18th, early 19th century; in other words at the time when the keris had already been reduced to an item of dress.

There are many reasons for this opinion, and I do not feel inclined to expand upon those reasons here, because to do so convincingly would require a very large number of words and very long time to write them. Probably complex pamor miring appeared in East Jawa and along the North Coast prior to being reasonably common in Central Jawa.

In any case, if a keris that dates from circa 1800, and of the type under discussion in this thread, is regarded as "archaic" then there is really no reason to doubt that twist pamors did exist in "archaic" keris of this type.

In any case, what seems to qualify as "archaic" for this type of keris is regarded as a rather young weapon in the core tradition of the keris.

20th June 2013, 01:58 AM	#12
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	Thanks for your input Kai. The question really is:- when did complex pamor miring motifs begin to appear in Jawa? My answer is:- I do not know My qualification is:- perhaps complex pamor miring did not appear in Central Jawa until the late 18th, early 19th century; in other words at the time when the keris had already been reduced to an item of dress. There are many reasons for this opinion, and I do not feel inclined to expand upon those reasons here, because to do so convincingly would require a very large number of words and very long time to write them. Probably complex pamor miring appeared in East Jawa and along the North Coast prior to being reasonably common in Central Jawa. In any case, if a keris that dates from circa 1800, and of the type under discussion in this thread, is regarded as "archaic" then there is really no reason to doubt that twist pamors did exist in "archaic" keris of this type. In any case, what seems to qualify as "archaic" for this type of keris is regarded as a rather young weapon in the core tradition of the keris.