Metuk (Iras) as an indicator of quality

kai · 25th December 2016, 06:54 PM

QUOTE from Ensiklopedia Keris:
"Kalau dibuat menyatu dengan bilah dan pesinya disebut metuk iras. Yang memakai metuk iras biasanya adalah tombak-tombak tangguh lama, atau tombak-tombak yang mutunya tidak begitu tinggi."

=

If made with blade and nya [integral?] pesi, it is called metuk iras. Spears from old tangguh typically exhibit metuk iras and their quality is not so high.

(Please do correct me if my attempts at translation are too gruesome!)

Regards,
Kai

A. G. Maisey · 25th December 2016, 09:24 PM

Kai, "nya" on the end of a word should be read as "the", or "its", so:- "the pesi", but this of course is quite wrong if read in isolation, there should be another phrase or sentence before the quoted text that makes it clear that this sentence refers to the metuk.

"biasanya" is better as "usually" or "normally"

"atau tombak-tombak yang mutunya tidak begitu tinggi." = (literally) "or spears which quality its not so high" = "or spears which are not of a high quality".
Many more ways to express this idea in English, no need to be a perfect translation to get the general idea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai, a lot of the "mystical/magical" beliefs associated with keris are in fact very recent, superficial research indicates that many such beliefs are no more than a couple of hundred years old, and date from colonial times, I have heard many Javanese people express the opinion that in fact many of these beliefs were generated in one way or another by the presence of the Dutch.

My personal opinion for the existence of keris that are gonjo iras is that dependent upon available material and the degree of technological advancement, it is much quicker, much, much easier, and enormously cheaper to make a gonjo iras keris than it is to make a keris with a gonjo. I have made several keris, and I can assure you, the time involved in making and fitting a gonjo is far in excess of the time it would have taken me to forge the gonjo into the blade.

The metuk iras probably followed the idea of the gonjo, mostly after relevant symbolism started to be attached to keris construction. In Bali I don't think the separate metuk ever became popular, in fact I cannot recall having seen a Bali tombak with a separate metuk.

Make no mistake about it:- the keris is a magical object, but that magic in its true sense has almost nothing to do with the popular idea of magic that is associated with the keris. This popular idea seems to have its roots firstly in the influence of Sufic beliefs that took root in Central Jawa during the 1500's, and secondly in the influence of the Dutch colonialists. We need to look to Bali to understand the true magic of the keris.

Battara · 26th December 2016, 02:01 AM

........and just a side note Alan, I have loved your keris work for a couple of decades now - absolutely henomenal !

A. G. Maisey · 26th December 2016, 03:16 AM

Thanks mate.

Objectively, my work is quite plain, but in just a couple of areas I did achieve very close to perfection.

However, the thing I am pretty pleased with is this:- except for the blade I made under the supervision of Empu Suparman, and for which we used a blacksmith in the welding, although I worked as striker for that keris, all of the other keris I both forged --- by myself, without the assistance of a striker --- and carved using traditional tools, not electric grinders. Additionally, all my blades have been properly heat treated, which is something that very keris makers of the current era can claim.

I set out to learn how to make keris, not to become a maker of keris, but rather to better understand the keris.

Along the way I also made a lot of mechanical damascus, I made a few blades of welded cable, and a few other nondescript blades using sanmai construction.

Kulino · 27th December 2016, 12:41 PM

Nice to read the elaborations. I would like to post some of the tumbak again and continue the discussion. As far as I can see, metuk iras could be connected to age and quality.
Looking at the two tumbaks posted, the one with metuk iras appears to be of finer quality then the one with separate metuk.
Is this a correct assumption?
And then there is the tumbak without metuk. Missing of intended to go without? What could be said of the quality/age?

kai · 27th December 2016, 05:06 PM

Hello Kulino,

Quote:

Looking at the two tumbaks posted, the one with metuk iras appears to be of finer quality then the one with separate metuk.

I'd love to hear Alan's take on your examples! I still suck at "reading" tombak blades and often enough have problems to establish from which island/culture they originate from...

Thus, do take my comments with a lump of salt:
All 4 seem to be nice examples with above average quality; I believe that the one without metuk once had one (no clear indications from the pesi though).

Based on the metuk of the 2 above, I'd agree that the iras example is of higher quality. I'm less sure about the blade/pamor quality though.

Regards,
Kai

Kulino · 28th December 2016, 11:53 AM

Hello Kai,
I checked the correspondence I had some thirty year ago with Peter van Hien the grandson of the writer of De Javaansche Geestenwereld. ( The Javanese world of spirits- 1896), https://archive.org/details/dejavaanschegee01hiengoog ) considered him an ahli keris. His grandfather had trained him in the kejawen way. At that time he was, as an abdi dalem, in close contact with Yogja kraton perawat keris. When I asked him about the kinatah keris he replied among others with a quote of the Babad Tanah Jawi (I tried to re trace the quote but couldn’t find it in my translated copy…. https://serbasejarah.files.wordpress...anah-djawi.pdf):
‘During Mataram time golden ricikan were applied on the ganja indicating status, for panewu mantri lions and elephants, for princes and patih dalam there were orchids.’
He mentions more like ricikan: for wedana kaliwon, lunglungan and ron-ron-an… but it is sometimes hard to decipher his handwriting. (Mind you, this was before the computer age )
Looking at this quote, the orchids on both tumbak should point at a decent quality.

I’m not sure the tumbak without metuk once had one. Looking at the spine of the blade, the diameter simply doesn’t allow for anything circular to be placed at the pesi without sticking out dramatically. But a tombak without anything like a metuk?

Best,
Kulino

27th December 2016, 12:41 PM	#5
Kulino Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 84	Quality of tumbak Nice to read the elaborations. I would like to post some of the tumbak again and continue the discussion. As far as I can see, metuk iras could be connected to age and quality. Looking at the two tumbaks posted, the one with metuk iras appears to be of finer quality then the one with separate metuk. Is this a correct assumption? And then there is the tumbak without metuk. Missing of intended to go without? What could be said of the quality/age? Attached Images

28th December 2016, 11:53 AM	#7
Kulino Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 84	Hello Kai, I checked the correspondence I had some thirty year ago with Peter van Hien the grandson of the writer of De Javaansche Geestenwereld. ( The Javanese world of spirits- 1896), https://archive.org/details/dejavaanschegee01hiengoog ) considered him an ahli keris. His grandfather had trained him in the kejawen way. At that time he was, as an abdi dalem, in close contact with Yogja kraton perawat keris. When I asked him about the kinatah keris he replied among others with a quote of the Babad Tanah Jawi (I tried to re trace the quote but couldn’t find it in my translated copy…. https://serbasejarah.files.wordpress...anah-djawi.pdf): ‘During Mataram time golden ricikan were applied on the ganja indicating status, for panewu mantri lions and elephants, for princes and patih dalam there were orchids.’ He mentions more like ricikan: for wedana kaliwon, lunglungan and ron-ron-an… but it is sometimes hard to decipher his handwriting. (Mind you, this was before the computer age ) Looking at this quote, the orchids on both tumbak should point at a decent quality. I’m not sure the tumbak without metuk once had one. Looking at the spine of the blade, the diameter simply doesn’t allow for anything circular to be placed at the pesi without sticking out dramatically. But a tombak without anything like a metuk? Best, Kulino Last edited by Kulino; 28th December 2016 at 12:12 PM.

25th December 2016, 06:54 PM	#1
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	QUOTE from Ensiklopedia Keris: "Kalau dibuat menyatu dengan bilah dan pesinya disebut metuk iras. Yang memakai metuk iras biasanya adalah tombak-tombak tangguh lama, atau tombak-tombak yang mutunya tidak begitu tinggi." = If made with blade and nya [integral?] pesi, it is called metuk iras. Spears from old tangguh typically exhibit metuk iras and their quality is not so high. (Please do correct me if my attempts at translation are too gruesome!) Regards, Kai

25th December 2016, 09:24 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,989	Kai, "nya" on the end of a word should be read as "the", or "its", so:- "the pesi", but this of course is quite wrong if read in isolation, there should be another phrase or sentence before the quoted text that makes it clear that this sentence refers to the metuk. "biasanya" is better as "usually" or "normally" "atau tombak-tombak yang mutunya tidak begitu tinggi." = (literally) "or spears which quality its not so high" = "or spears which are not of a high quality". Many more ways to express this idea in English, no need to be a perfect translation to get the general idea. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kai, a lot of the "mystical/magical" beliefs associated with keris are in fact very recent, superficial research indicates that many such beliefs are no more than a couple of hundred years old, and date from colonial times, I have heard many Javanese people express the opinion that in fact many of these beliefs were generated in one way or another by the presence of the Dutch. My personal opinion for the existence of keris that are gonjo iras is that dependent upon available material and the degree of technological advancement, it is much quicker, much, much easier, and enormously cheaper to make a gonjo iras keris than it is to make a keris with a gonjo. I have made several keris, and I can assure you, the time involved in making and fitting a gonjo is far in excess of the time it would have taken me to forge the gonjo into the blade. The metuk iras probably followed the idea of the gonjo, mostly after relevant symbolism started to be attached to keris construction. In Bali I don't think the separate metuk ever became popular, in fact I cannot recall having seen a Bali tombak with a separate metuk. Make no mistake about it:- the keris is a magical object, but that magic in its true sense has almost nothing to do with the popular idea of magic that is associated with the keris. This popular idea seems to have its roots firstly in the influence of Sufic beliefs that took root in Central Jawa during the 1500's, and secondly in the influence of the Dutch colonialists. We need to look to Bali to understand the true magic of the keris.

26th December 2016, 02:01 AM	#3
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,272	........and just a side note Alan, I have loved your keris work for a couple of decades now - absolutely henomenal !

26th December 2016, 03:16 AM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,989	Thanks mate. Objectively, my work is quite plain, but in just a couple of areas I did achieve very close to perfection. However, the thing I am pretty pleased with is this:- except for the blade I made under the supervision of Empu Suparman, and for which we used a blacksmith in the welding, although I worked as striker for that keris, all of the other keris I both forged --- by myself, without the assistance of a striker --- and carved using traditional tools, not electric grinders. Additionally, all my blades have been properly heat treated, which is something that very keris makers of the current era can claim. I set out to learn how to make keris, not to become a maker of keris, but rather to better understand the keris. Along the way I also made a lot of mechanical damascus, I made a few blades of welded cable, and a few other nondescript blades using sanmai construction.