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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA Georgia
Posts: 1,599
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I had posted this earlier and tried to delete that post. However the keris keeps coming back in my mind and I am reposting. Please excuse my redundancy.
Not sure what this is. It was called a "Spirit Cage" A tombak is in the center. Keris is shown to show size. It has traces of kineta. I am very curious about this. It does have a "presence" a sense of some kind of strange power. Not good, nor bad, just powerful. I think it is called a bethok krawangan keris, with a fixed menur tombak inside. It does not rattle. My description may be incorrect and would appreciate your opinions. The handle and scabbard is rough. If there is interest, I will try to get better detail images, possibly lighting from the other side to see the tombak better. |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,249
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Hello Bill,
This has me dumbfounded and others as well, I guess. While it may not be my cup of tea, the displayed skill and patience is certainly impressive. I assume the tombak inside does not carry a methuk but rather the methuk/mendak on the outside is used to tightly fix the ensemble, isn't it? Did you got any provenance or other info with it? Regards, Kai |
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#3 |
Keris forum moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,085
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Bill, my feeling about this is that it is just lovely, but i can't figure our whether this piece serves a deeper spiritual function worthy of the name "spirit cage" or if it's just beautiful for beauty's sake. Either way is a justifiable reason for being.
![]() Addendum: I don't get the feeling it is particularly old though. Which makes me wonder about the worn away kinatah look. That can be a popular dealer technique to make a newer keris look old. Or maybe it's just a way to save on gold coasts. ![]() Either way it does make me wonder what a creation like this would look like in full stain and completely in kinatah as seems to be the original intention of the design. |
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#4 |
Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,249
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Hello Bill,
I'm with David - very likely originates from Karmadikan times. It certainly focuses on the artistic side of things with the whole gandik as well as the gonjo hollowed out which is quite a feat to achieve! Can you tell if the tombak inside was made to fit or whether it is an older blade? Regards, Kai |
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#5 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA Georgia
Posts: 1,599
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Not sure where or from whom I got it, but they called it a Spirit Cage. Does seem well-done and has a strange 'presence.'
A "Indonesian" friend has one similar and he calls it "betok" thinks it came from Bali. Now lives in Amsterdam. I have permission to show the blade, but no permission to show faces and blanked them out Last edited by Bill M; 11th January 2019 at 04:45 PM. |
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#6 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,284
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It looks huge!
![]() Your's is a much smaller example, Bill, yes? |
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#7 |
Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,249
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Hello Bill,
Does it also have a tombak inside? And what seems to poke through the gandik? Regards, Kai |
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#8 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA Georgia
Posts: 1,599
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I don't know more about the other "bethok." He is sending me more pictures and a write up.
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