Banjarmasin keris?

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Marcokeris

Strange is the oval base of the hilt ...created not for the mendak of the pic. It would be right for a ring as Bali or Lombok ring but ( i have looked some of my banjarmasin hilts just now)...also for the little selut of banjarmasin wood -gold leaf hilts. So i am more confused than before :-p

Hello Marco,
I think that very few among us are familiar with the gilded wood Banjarmasin hilts and seluts which you mention, it would be appreciated if you can show us some typical specimens.
And regarding the ivory hilt shown by Detlef, I never saw a similar piece but would posibly attribute it to East Java with a specific local style.
Regards

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Jean

And regarding the ivory hilt shown by Detlef, I never saw a similar piece but would posibly attribute it to East Java with a specific local style.
Regards

Hello Jean,

you could be right by your guess. How longer I look to this hilt I get the same feeling. Any guess about the blade?

Regards,

Detlef

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Jean,

you could be right by your guess. How longer I look to this hilt I get the same feeling. Any guess about the blade?

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Detlef,
Frankly I have no clear idea about the blade as well and was expecting Alan to comment on it. It has some very specific features such as the shape (short and wide), the thick and protruding kembang kacang, the peculiar lambe ganjah and grooves on the front of the ganja (a bit similar to Balinese blades). It seems to have some age from the worn greneng and gap between the blade and ganja. Because the hilt has some balinese influence, I would guess East Java Hindu area (Banyuwangi) but it is just an unsupported impression.
Anyway I find this mysterious kris very interesting! The engravings on the warangka are unusual also, the horn buntut looks Sumatrese but it could be a more recent repair.
Regards

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Jean

Hello Detlef,
Frankly I have no clear idea about the blade as well and was expecting Alan to comment on it. It has some very specific features such as the shape (short and wide), the thick and protruding kembang kacang, the peculiar lambe ganjah and grooves on the front of the ganja (a bit similar to Balinese blades). It seems to have some age from the worn greneng and gap between the blade and ganja. Because the hilt has some balinese influence, I would guess East Java Hindu area (Banyuwangi) but it is just an unsupported impression.
Anyway I find this mysterious kris very interesting! The engravings on the warangka are unusual also, the horn buntut looks Sumatrese but it could be a more recent repair.
Regards

Hello Jean,

thank you for your thoughts about this keris. My friend who offered this keris has had similar thoughts about this keris but we both are very unsure about the origin. All parts, scabbard, blade and as well the hilt are very unusual IMHO. The engravings at the warangka and the horn buntut are the reasons which let me think that it could be Banjarmasin.
I also have the hope that Alan will share his thoughts about the blade.

Regards,

Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

Probably the vast bulk of keris have been made according to established patterns:- patterns that follow the lead of either a tradition of a ruling house or of a group of people.

But sometimes a keris will be produced by a person, or in a place , where there is no established lead from either tradition or ruling house. When this happens, guidance is lacking.

The first keris that I made was certainly recognisable as a keris, but nobody could ever guess where it was produced, because although I knew very well what a keris looked like, I had not been taught the necessary elements of structure that would permit me to produce a keris that had some relationship with other keris . My first keris lacked a foundation. The same is true of every attempt at the making of a keris by any person who has not had the tuition of an established maker, and who is working outside a community with a keris tradition.

In my personal collection I have several similar keris. Keris that have been produced by somebody who had no tradition to draw upon. The makers had seen a keris, and they produced something that was keris-like, but it did not conform to a tradition.

Possibly what we are looking at here has a similar history:- a keris produced outside any recognisable tradition. Look at the individual elements:- a straight gonjo that is almost nguceng mati, but not Tuban, additionally the material seems not to be the same as the iron in the blade, and a different hand cut the attempt at a greneng than cut the greneng features in the blade; the kembang kacang looks a bit like nggelung wayang but doesn't quite make it; the proportions are not in conformity with anything I can recognise; it has pamor, but the maker had no idea at all of how to manage pamor.

So --- did this maker have any guidance or tradition to draw upon?

I doubt it.

The wrongko looks like a mixture of different elements. Since one of the functions of a wrongko is to provide an item of dress that conforms to dress in its particular area, and since this wrongko does not conform to any dress standard that I have seen, I'm only prepared to agree that yes, it is a wrongko.

Similar story with the hilt. It mimics some elements that appear in Central Javanese hilts, but all that additional ornamentation is not a part of anything I know.

Overall, this looks like a Javanese keris to my eye, but not of a Javanese tradition. I'd be inclined to classify the whole thing as folk art:- a collaboration between somebody who wanted or needed a keris and the village smith. Lots of little isolated villages in Central Jawa, even now. What would it have been like 100 or so years ago?

Actually, I rather like these keris that don't follow a tradition. They possibly get closer to the feeling of the people than any elite art work adorned with gold ever has any hope of doing.

The mendak is North Coast/Madura.

One question:- is the gandar from a single piece of wood, or is it from two pieces of wood that have been joined?

[Sajen]

Thank you Alan for your thoughts about this keris, very helpful.

The gandar is built up from two pieces.

Thanks again and best regards,

Detlef

[Jean]

As promised I attach the pictures of my recently acquired Banjarmasin kris with the following comments for discussion:
The blade has a rough surface and it does not seem to be Javanese nor Buginese; a specific feature is the presence of small dots of pamor (tambal) regularly spaced along the blade. This is also found on another kris from Banjarmasin shown to me by another collector, does it mean that this style of blade is indigenous to Banjarmasin?
The hilt in Sumatra style is made from gilt brass and in excellent condition, the selut and virtually all the intens are still present.
The gayaman sheath is typical of Banjar, the gandar in 2 pieces is fully covered with very fine cotton thread which was replaced on the top part and a bit damaged at the tip but I will leave it in this condition.
Regards