Sumatran Jawa Demam - Anak Ayam Sejuk - Birdman/Garuda?

[A. G. Maisey]

The hilt shown here is from my own collection. I had thought that it was Sumatran, but in light of the example published by Van Der Hoop, perhaps it is not, perhaps it is Ceribon, or at least, North Coast Jawa.

[A. G. Maisey]

Lastly, these other two hilts for comparison.

[VVV]

Thanks for bringing new light to this!

When looking at the arm-position of the discussed hilt it's a hybride of the old hand on the knees position and the folded-arms position of the old Banten-Cirebon&Tegal-North Coast "Raksasa" hilts.
On the illustration from van Dapperen I find it hard to see how much of a "beak" it has (compared to the Sumatran Jawa Demam)?
Note that the fingers of the left hand are straight up, not down as your later example, which maybe relates it more to a mudra?
As a correction I also would like to bring up that only the last hilt of the illustrations are specifically Cirebon. The first two are "Middle Java" and "Java". IMHO "Ditto" in the book refers to "Cris heft of ivory", not " from Cheribon".

Michael

[A. G. Maisey]

Van Dapperen, Michael?

Do you mean Van Der Hoop, or is Van Dapperen a separate reference?

On the "dittos", yes, I think you're right. I just went back and had another look at that text. Makes a difference if one wears glasses when reading it.

But still, Ceribon or Jawa, or Middle Jawa, I'm not really too fussed about. What I find interesting is this distinctly Jawa demam pattern being associated with Jawa. I've never seen anything anywhere that would suggest that this pattern is a Jawa pattern, but Pak Gonjo seemed pretty sure of himself, so he must have some solid evidence somewhere, and publication in this textbook intended for use in Indonesian educational institutions seems to put it beyond doubt.

Yes, you can't see the head shape in the Van Der Hoop illustration, and this still leaves room for doubt.

However, at this moment I am still puzzling over exactly how and where this Jawa demam form fits into the range of Jawa hilts of which we are certain.
I don't think I want to get into discussion of hand positions at this point, because from my perspective we are still trying to find some sort of certainty on the overall form. If we can achieve that, then maybe we can consider the detail.In any case, you can bet on it that when it was carved, it was carved in conformity with a specific pattern, and the carver himself probably didn't have the vaguest idea of what he was carving:- we see a mudra; the carver saw something that he'd been taught to carve.

[VVV]

My fault,

I mixed up vd Hoop with v Dapperen, the authour of a Dutch article on keris hilts, and an otherwise quite productive ethnographer.
Makes a difference if one has had a breakfast espresso, or not, before posting...

I look forward to more comments on Alan's post.

Michael

[Marcokeris]

Another Jawa Solo (?) hit from classic Bezemer's Indonesische Kunstnijverheid

[VVV]

Thanks for sharing, Marco!

It seems like the original hilt of the earlier published illustration.
To me it looks much more like a Raksasa hilt than a birdlike Jawa Demam.
No beak and no garuda mungkur but a resembling arm position.
The style is however quite different compared to for instance my avatar.
I am not that convinced that this was a Javanese hilt variation with wide distribution.

Michael