Two Tajong?

[Jeff Pringle]

I recently found these two Keris, and would like to learn more about them. From a couple searches of the forum (and a long interest in ethnographic patterned steel), it seems they are Patani tajong, at least in hilt. The one with the darker handle is more roughly carved, and has no sign of pamor on the blade. The lighter handle is carved with a high degree of care and finish, and the blade has more shape and signs of pamor.
Both are in need of TLC!

[BluErf]

Hi Jeff,

The keris on the right is not in the correct sheath form, hence it can't exactly be called a tajong. The keris on the left is in the correct sheath form, though the right daun (the up-curling tip) has broken off.

You may have seen these 2 tajongs before - archetypal examples.
http://www.kampungnet.com.sg/modules...view_album.php

http://www.kampungnet.com.sg/modules...view_album.php

Very interesting blade form for the keris on the left though... It's not the usual sort of blade found in a Tajong keris. Judging from the depth of the greneng and the style of the base of the blade, could be a Narathiwat blade, like this:

[ganjawulung]

Dear Jeff,

According to Indonesian point of view, we call such types of hilt as: "hulu pekakak". Bambang Harsrinuksmo wrote in his Ensiklopedi Keris (2004), that hulu pekakak is the hilt type used in Malaysian peninsula, Riau Island (Sumatra, Indonesia), Jambi (Sumatra, Indonesia), Serawak (Malaysia) and Brunei Darussalam. But excuse me, you put the hilt in the wrong direction. Actually, the hulu pekakak must face the opposite site of your blade. So, please turn the hilt 180 degree...

In Java Island (Indonesia), this type of hilt or handle is almost similar with Rajamala. But the nose is shorter, and the hulu's bend is a little bit more upward. Cirebon (the north-western part of Central Java) also have Rajamala with shorter nose like Solonese type. Some (Javanese) keris lover call the hulu pekakak as Raja Ikan or the King Fisher.

Pekakak is actually a kind of bird in the border of Malaysia and Thailand (Pattani). The Latin name of the bird is Pelargopsis amauroptera. There are two kinds of pekakak: (1) pekakak hutan (forest pekakak) and (2) pekakak udang (shrimp pekakak).

The right sheath, if I'm not mistaken, is a Bugis sheath. I don't exactly the different or the similarity between Bugis type sheath and Malay sheath. Anyway, you have old and good kerises...

[Jeff Pringle]

So a ‘Tajong’ is a fairly specific combination of elements; sheath, handle and blade?
If I wished to describe these correctly, should my friends ask what they are and where they come from, would “Keris with ‘kingfisher’ hilts, North Peninsular Malaysia or Southern Thailand” be reasonably correct?

Actually, the hulu pekakak must face the opposite site of your blade. So, please turn the hilt 180 degree...

Ah, that is how they were when I got them. I have corrected the situation, thank you for bringing it to my attention!

I cleaned most of the rust from the blade with more shape in the sorsoran (lime juice and toothbrush method), and have taken this photo with side lighting to show more details. The joint at the ganjah is usually straight, no? The metal has subtle layering, but no flashy pamor.

[ganjawulung]

Yessss, Jeff,

Better situation, isn't it? The blade with double curves in the ganja is younger, but better. We call ganja with two curves like that as ganjawilut. Good Mataram era kerises (16th century) usually had ganjawilut. There is an other double curves type of ganja, we call it kelaplintah. An the kelap lintah is more beautiful, more artistic. The best javanese empu in the past who is known best maker of the kelaplintah ganja is Empu Supa, and the younger Supa Anom.

Your ganjawilut blade is almost similar with kerises from Empu Supa. Usually not to big (the Javanese call it, wiwing) good blade curf, and ricikan (details). Your wilut blade has a good ada-ada (higher contour in the middle of the blade, from bottom sor-soran until almost to the top of the blade). Small but beautiful... (I prefer to clean my blades not with sikat gigi or toothbrush, but with sikat sepatu or white nylon shoe-brush, on a plate of wood).

[BluErf]

Hi Jeff,

"Pekaka" is not the correct term to use for tajong hilts. It is an erroneous term propagated by quite a number of books and authors, both from this region and in the West.

"Tajong" and "Pekaka" are 2 different hilt forms, and the tajong hilt is certainly not a kingfisher bird. If you look carefully, there is a mouth with fangs underneath the long nose, and the hilt actually has a highly abstract body, complete with vestigial arms in front and highly stylized legs. The posture is just like the rashaksa hilts from Java, hands on knees. The closest relative from Java to the tajong is the tegal hilt. See 1st pic. There had been some discussions on the possible evolution of the tajong hilt somewhere in this forum. You may want to look for it. In short, the tajong could be an extremely evolved form of rashaksa hilt.

In North Malaysia and South Thailand, where the pekaka and tajong hilts originate from, "hulu pekaka" refers to a special type of Jawa Demam with very strongly protruding head and acute beak (tanjak) and back spike (garuda mungkur). See 2nd pic.

The tajong form is unique to Kelantan and Pattani. Those tajong-like hilts found in Sumatra or Kalimantan are most likely copies of the archetypal form found in Kelantan/Pattani. We notice a rise in attempts to make copies of the tajong today. The hilts look approximately like the tajong, especially when viewed sideways. However, when viewed head-on, the proportions and shapes are all wrong. The attempts to copy the tajong could be attributed to the scarcity and relative high-value of this rare keris form.

As to the configuration of the hilt, turning it left certainly conforms to the Javanese way of configuring the hilt. However, Malay and Bugis kerises are more likely to have their hilts facing forward, perhaps tilted slightly to the left. This is a practical and ergonomic grip, especially with the Jawa Demam form, or the pistol ("kerdas") grip. For the tajong, which is a Malay keris, and a status piece more than a functional keris, the same configuration would apply, though many a times, we would turn the hilt left or right so that the full impressive side profile can be seen. You may want to note that if you turn the hilt to the right, somehow, it is better accentuated by the daun (the up-curling tip) of the sheath. See 3rd and 4th pics.

[David]

Thanks Kai Wee. When the the question of proper hilt names first came up i was tempted to post with some of this info (which i undoubted learned from you ), but i knew that it wouldn't be long before you posted to set the record straight (and with far better pictures to illustrate your point ).

[josh stout]

Just for fun here are some pictures of kingfishers from the genus Pelargopsis.

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.ed...largopsis.html

I can see why you would call these hilts kingfisher. The kingfishers I am used to have narrow straight bills, but these seem more closely related to the kookaburra.
Josh

[ganjawulung]

Dear David,

I like the discussion like this. Because, really I like to learn from other's opinion. I've read also different opinion between two keris experts GC Woolley and AH Hill in this matter, if I'm not mistaken. According to Woolley, The pattani keris is Keris Pekakak, or Kingfisher. (Event in David van Duuren's Krisses, a Critical Bibliography 2002, Van Duuren clearly mention in one picture of such hilt, "A wooden 'kingfisher' hilt or hulu pekakak from the Malay Peninsula).

In their book, "The Keris and other Malay Weapons" AH Hill and GC Woolley wrote about this. Classification of keris based on the hilt and sheath, Woolley classified (1) Bali, Lombok and Madura type (2) the Javanese type (3) The peninsula (Northern) type, (4) the Bugis type (5) The Sumatran type (6) The Pattani type (7) The Sundang or Sulu type.

Woolley wrote, that The Pattani type also called the Keris Pekaka or Pekakak "The Kingfisher". This is reference to the hilt, which may derived from the bird-headed Garuda (demon or demigod in the Javanese Wayang Kulit or Puppet Leather).

But H Hill in his article in the same book, said that: ... figure with a long nose erroneusly called kingfisher (pekakak). In other part, Woolley mentioned, that there is a form of hilt showing a demon head with the teeth and tusks and a long nose, though not a beak like the 'kingfisher' and this is -- according to Wooley -- may be an early type of the Keris Pattani and show the connection with the old Hindu religion and the Wayang Kulit plays..

So no certainty either. Anyway, in the glossary of Keris terms in that book, Woolley still mentioned that Pekakak: Kingfisher, and Keris pekakak is the Pattani keris. Also, according Woolley, Keris Patani is the 'kingfisher-hilt' type..

Ganjawulung

[Jeff Pringle]

"Pekaka" is not the correct term to use for tajong hilts.

I’ve gotten the feeling from the last week of occasional websurfing on the subject of keris that it could be an endlessly fascinating subject of study. Coming from my (perhaps western?) inclination to understand things by appending names to them (or rather, “find the correct name and you understand the thing” sort of thinking, which is not my only goal in understanding things (especially patterned steel & traditionally made tools ), but which may form the framework on which I hang my understanding, you understand ), the complete, overlapping sets of jargon and multiple points of view combined with the multifarious variation of form, intricate delicacy of execution and astonishing dedication to the spirit of the steel by generations of remarkably skilled smiths is quite bewildering & kinda cool.

But it tends to make the answer to the questions “what are these, where and when were they made?” somewhat elusive. A survey of what is easily available on the web reveals that the keris with the darker hilt has a blade conforming to the Patani tajong norm, but the sheath is non-standard (although common enough in conjunction with the hilt, see for example:
http://www.klefisch.com/index.php?pa...=1&itemid=4580
and:
http://www.antiqueswords.com/bq1050.htm )
The lighter-color, more nicely carved hilt with the more tajong-standard scabbard has a non-standard blade, or so it seems…which all makes sense, perhaps- looking at blades of other cultures around the world the blade is the important part, and nice blades might get to cycle through several hilts and sheaths over their useful life, so one would not expect neat, tidy packages all the time, but just how peripatetic were these keris over the last few hundred years? My point of view is, of course, skewed by whatever info is on the web right now, so it’s hard to gauge the relative import of information like the second link above – Sumatran?! The rest of the info points towards a peninsular origin for this style, what’s up? How far into the islands do these hilts go? Far enough to get scabbards from Sulawesi? What makes that one Sumatran?
Pardon my confusion, you are probably not enjoying it as much as I am!

I like Garuda

The tajong form is unique to Kelantan and Pattani. Those tajong-like hilts found in Sumatra or Kalimantan are most likely copies of the archetypal form found in Kelantan/Pattani.

Yes, this makes sense, but are the hilts that started this discussion tajong (they seem to be, based on various web photos)? and do non-standard sheaths and/or blades make them not tajong? ...or is that just a clueless way to look at it?

[BluErf]

Hi ganjawulung,

There is quite a fair bit of confusion in the current literature on what is a pekaka hilt and what is a tajong hilt. I have the good fortune of knowing a number of established collectors from Kelantan/Terengganu, one of whom is a carver who studied the tajong and other North Malayan kerises extensively. I am also lucky enough to be able to see his very extensive collection (possibly the most comprehensive and high quality North Malayan keris collection in existence). Based on what I have learnt from these established North Malaysians (who are Malays), the norm in North Malaysia/South Thailand on what is a tajong and what is a pekaka, is as I have described in my post above. Given that the tajong and the pekaka is an "indigenous form" to those areas, we'd give respect to these native, established collectors/scholars' take on the subject. Certainly, they did not make up the names, nor randomly assigned them, but learnt them from their seniors and teachers.

For a definitive look at the tajong (and to a smaller extent, the pekaka), I strongly recommend the following book:

http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Wood-Ar.../dp/0794601030

A small part of my friend's collection is featured in this book.


Hi Jeff,

Your tajong hilts are the real stuff. The blades you have shown in the 2 links above are not the normal type of blade normally associated as tajongs. The most common forms are the straight "pandai saras" blade form, followed by the wavy "pandai saras" blade form and the "carita" blade form, in approximately similar rarity. Please note that the use of the term "carita" (pronounced "cher-rita") is not the same as the Javanese context. "Carita" in the Malay keris world refers to blades with shallow fullers running nearly the full length of the blade. If the fullers had been deeper, they would be called "melela". Again "melala" here is different from the "melela" used in the Javanese context, which is often used to describe "besi melela", or metal without visible pamor patterns. I am not good with Javanese kerises, so I would defer the explanations on these to the other members who are more knowledgeable in Javanese kerises.

Anyway, the 3 common keris forms for tajongs are attached below. Please ignore the hilts, as these hilts (of the jawa demam form) can also be appropriately paired with such blades, but then of course, the keris would not be called a tajong. There are other Malay keris forms found on tajongs, but would be the exception, rather than the rule.

Kerises and keris parts travel in the archipelago. This exchange of parts is also what fuels the exchange of aesthetics and forms, contributing to the variation of keris blades and keris dress/hilt forms, and they also cause mis-matched kerises to turn up all the time. And of course, we cannot discount dealers and collectors who swap hilts and blades around for all sorts of reasons, even if they don't really conform to the archetypal forms. I'm afraid your question would not be easily answered. You have to learn from good books, good teachers, and from handling as many kerises as you can, and that is a long hard but fun road.

A proper tajong - hilt, sheath and blade - is illustrated in the 4th and 5th pic. Arguably, the defining characteristics of a tajong are the hilt and the sheath. Any other types of hilts and sheaths would make it hard for us to call the resulting keris a proper tajong. Note that Northern Malay aesthetics dictates that the sheath must be long and lanky, with the sheath stem much longer than the blade. I have seen some people (I refuse to call them "collectors") shorten the stem so that it is just slightly longer than the blade. This was because they liked the keris that way. But in my opinion, that is just destroying the original aesthetics of the tajong keris, not to mention, ruining a perfectly good antique sheath.

[BluErf]

Originally Posted by David

Thanks Kai Wee. When the the question of proper hilt names first came up i was tempted to post with some of this info (which i undoubted learned from you ), but i knew that it wouldn't be long before you posted to set the record straight (and with far better pictures to illustrate your point ).

Hi David,

You are most welcome to post on the subject. In fact, I'd be much happier you did because that means I have had some success in disseminating information on these North Malayan kerises.

[BluErf]

Kampungnet has been wonky lately. Here's a couple more tajong hilts (think most of the forumnites have seen the 1st one) for reference.

[David]

Originally Posted by BluErf

Hi David,

You are most welcome to post on the subject. In fact, I'd be much happier you did because that means I have had some success in disseminating information on these North Malayan kerises.

Well yes....but as i pointed out, my explanation would not be nearly as well illustrated.