Nogo and Singo Origins

[A. G. Maisey]

OK, so if we try to put a date on when these two cultural icons first began to appear on keris, we need to be able to put a date on the keris first, & that is something that is close to impossible, although a "True Believer" will tell us that "Tangguh Mojo" really does mean that the keris was made in the Mojo era. Which it does not. It is an opinion formed on certain stylistic and material factors.

I have seen an abstract naga on a bronze keris buda, but I really cannot put a date on that KB, except to say it was excavated. Old, certainly, but how old?

We can find both naga & singha on Balinese keris, & these most certainly cannot be attributed to Islamic influence.

The two representations have existed for a very long time, and can be found in decorative art & in monumental art, they can be found on very old keris, but how old are those keris?

That is a question that nobody can realistically answer.

[Jayaningkurnia]

To my limited knowledge, keris ganan design (i.e. keris that features fauna/mythical creatures on the gandhik) have existed since the Hindu/Buddha period in Java. This also align with the religious observance/mythology of these religions that often involves such creatures (vs Islam which forbid depiction of living beings - instead uses abstracted designs).

According to folk tradition, nogo keris design (nagaraja, nagasasra, naga temanten, &c.) hailed back at least to the Majapahit era, with the creation story of dapur Nagasasra by empu Supo to 'ruwat'/cleanse Majapahit being one of the most widely known legend in the tosan aji community. I have seen a few krises that are claimed as such, unfortunately I don't have sufficient knowledge to validate, but at least to my eyes these specimen looks convincing.

Meanwhile, the singo keris design is even older, supposedly at least harking back to the Singasari era (though I have not seen any speciment yet). I have handled and seen in person a mojo keris with 'singo barong' on the gandhik, described as following "Singosari-style" singo, rather than Mojo-style singo (apparently differences on the stance and the tail carvings). To me, the keris blade itself is a rather convincing sample of a mojo-era keris (based on the wesi, design/'rancang bangun', and pamor). Though of course more of the kerises in circulation with singo ricikan are from the islamic mataram era.

[A. G. Maisey]

To address this matter as simply as possible, what we can do is place a date on the introduction of both the Naga motif & the singha motif to Javanese art & ornamentation.

For the Naga, that is the Central Javanese Classical period, 7th to 8th century, & for the singha, it is the East Javanese Classical period under Kediri & Singhasari.

Regrettably it is not possible to place a date upon when those two motifs began to appear on keris, but we very probably can place the appearance of these two motifs on keris if we use the Tangguh system of keris classification, which applies the appraisal of certain characteristics of a keris blade to classify the blade as falling within one of a number of classifications that are named after particular eras or geographic locations.

This classification convention does not necessarily dictate a date as we understand any dating system, however, it can be reasonably reliable in the recognition of an older blade from a more recent blade.