SOLO KRATON KERIS AUCTIONED / GIFT FROM JAVANESE ROYALS TO DUTCH BANKER

A. G. Maisey · 7th August 2016, 02:29 PM

I don't like guessing Jean, but really, whether it is, or is not the very first gonjo fitted to the blade is not relevant in my opinion.

A keris can, and does, sometimes lose its gonjo often for culturally related reasons.

It is important that the gonjo be replaced competently.

It is unimportant that is has been replaced.

Think about it like this:- the blade is male : the gonjo is female, just as the wrongko is female : the male wilah is mated to the female elements of the complete keris and when all are together we have a societal symbol of the unity of male and female, just as a married man & woman are together representative of the required unity that makes a whole: man cannot be complete without woman, woman cannot be complete without man. Now, in the human man/woman unity if one part dies, it should be replaced so that the remaining part can once again be complete. In traditional thought, a woman should not continue to exist as a part of a community after the death of her husband, but if she removes herself from the community, or in later times takes a new husband, the unity is restored and the community is once again in balance. If the community is in balance, the danger to the cosmos of a state of non-balance is avoided.

The whole thing is really very simple. It is just a matter of understanding what the keris really is.

Frankly, I don't think this is much of a blade from the artistic perspective, its just a keris, nothing special, not bad, not good. But it is a keris, and if thought about in a cultural/societal context the important thing is that it does have a gonjo and that gonjo is suited to the wilah.

7th August 2016, 02:29 PM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	I don't like guessing Jean, but really, whether it is, or is not the very first gonjo fitted to the blade is not relevant in my opinion. A keris can, and does, sometimes lose its gonjo often for culturally related reasons. It is important that the gonjo be replaced competently. It is unimportant that is has been replaced. Think about it like this:- the blade is male : the gonjo is female, just as the wrongko is female : the male wilah is mated to the female elements of the complete keris and when all are together we have a societal symbol of the unity of male and female, just as a married man & woman are together representative of the required unity that makes a whole: man cannot be complete without woman, woman cannot be complete without man. Now, in the human man/woman unity if one part dies, it should be replaced so that the remaining part can once again be complete. In traditional thought, a woman should not continue to exist as a part of a community after the death of her husband, but if she removes herself from the community, or in later times takes a new husband, the unity is restored and the community is once again in balance. If the community is in balance, the danger to the cosmos of a state of non-balance is avoided. The whole thing is really very simple. It is just a matter of understanding what the keris really is. Frankly, I don't think this is much of a blade from the artistic perspective, its just a keris, nothing special, not bad, not good. But it is a keris, and if thought about in a cultural/societal context the important thing is that it does have a gonjo and that gonjo is suited to the wilah.