Planning to make a wrongko

[A. G. Maisey]

I would hesitate to guess what might be in it Rasdan. It is probably not a photographic representation, and as Gustav has said, it does have some features that echo early scabbards in European collections.

Here are another couple, ladrangans this time, from Candi Sukuh.

[rasdan]

Thank you Gustav and Alan. If the statue in the National Museum is also 15th century we cannot possibly be looking at buda keris on that statue. Another thing that interests me with that one is the selut that it used. Very similar with the ones we see in old bugis keris style.

It is very interesting to see that ladrangan style is already around in Candi Sukuh (15th century I think). I always have thought that ladrangan is a more recent style.

[A. G. Maisey]

Rasdan, I don't think that we can say whether or not the keris in the scabbard on that statue is Buda, however, the fact that it is a 15th century statue does not automatically rule out the form of the keris.

Yes, we refer to keris that we believe came from Pre-Islamic Jawa as "Keris Buda", but that does not mean that Keris Buda were never made and used in later eras. Even Mpu Pauzan made a few keris Buda, and lesser current era makers have also produced them. Similarly, Islam did not just automatically dominate Jawa after the collapse of Majapahit, it took a long time to get almost total domination. Even today, that domination is not complete, the people of the Tengger still cling to the old Pre-Islamic traditions, in fact in some ways the Tengger traditions reflect very early indigenous beliefs.We also have the Badui of Sunda.

Then there is the artistic dictate that the carver may have used an earlier style to reflect what the rest of the subject depicted.

The keris in the scabbard might be a KB, or might not, but we cannot even guess what the carver had in mind, based upon what we can see

[rasdan]

Thanks Alan, I just remembered that you had mentioned somewhere about this. Keris buda that were made after the pre-Islamic times and still produced at current time.

Unlike other talismanic items that are still made to be talismanic, I think current keris Buda were made for the collectors market with just money in mind. For what reason in your opinion that older keris buda (between early Islamic and before keris collectors exists - which is another interesting topic) were made for?

[A. G. Maisey]

Not really for the collector market Rasdan, at least, not in the way that we now think about collecting. People at the top of the tree in Solo from the 1970's through to the not so distant past held the opinion that keris which were made in the style of earlier periods were made as a token of respect to the makers of the past. Thus, a keris of say, Mojo style could be made during the Pajang era, not as an attempt to create a forgery, but as a token of respect to a previous maker.

Pauzan made a number of keris in styles from past eras --- KB's, betoks, Matarams --- it was never an attempt to deceive, it was always homage to past, and also to demonstrate his skill. I even made one keris in a past style, and using material that would place it as a past style. I did this just to show that I could do it.

At the present time some of the most artistic keris of the current era have been made in the KB style.

In respect of the idea "before collectors exist", I just don't know when that might be where keris are concerned. Bear in mind, Javanese noble men had very limited ways in which to store wealth. One of the acceptable ways was to store wealth in keris, this is probably the foundation stone of the Solonese tangguh system. Keris collecting and collectors have been around for a very long time.

[Johan van Zyl]

If I may interrupt Rasdan and Alan's very interesting discussion for a moment, let me show the latest pic of my nearly completed project. What comes to my mind is the following: WYSIWYG = What you see is what you get. It pertains to me, as I cannot at this stage effect any more big changes, and it pertains to the longsuffering forum members who have accompanied me on this "trip", as this wrongko might be disappointing and did not rise to the high expectations you might have had. But if I may say boldly, the wrongko actually looks better than in this poor photograph.

The four pins plus Alan's suggestion has made this epoxied joint very strong and I had no fear of it breaking as I sanded. What now needs to be done, is the application of the varnish. That is to say, if it is your suggestion that I varnish this wood. I recall reading that a Bugis wrongko should be stained red and then varnished (if I recall correctly). If you have more or other advice for me, please let it come. I await your kind final inputs. (Some of the pictures of wrongkos I saw seemed to be oiled or waxed.)

[Rick]

I think shellac will give you a nicer finish.

[kai]

Hello Johan,

That doesn't look bad at all! Certainly not a perfect copy and with some shortcomings for traditionally minded connoisseurs. More than adequate clothes for your keris though - you can certainly be proud having done this with a tough wood which seems to have quite nice figuring, too!

Traditional finish for keris is shellac (no multiple layers needed); make sure to fill the pores with wood dust during the final polishing steps!

The color is probably close to Kemuning limau (yellow kemuning wood); you could leave it as is if you prefer this color.

You could also utilize some spare bits of the same wood for testing whether using boiled linseed oil first and shellac later will make both woods looking even better.

Regards,
Kai