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#1 |
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If you enter the new museum of Jakarta -- The National Museum of Jakarta -- at Jalan Merdeka Barat (Merdeka Barat Avenue) on the 4th floor, you will see one elegant though simple form of keris, once belonged to Sultan Banten behind a big and thick glass-box. Very old-looking betok blade....
It is so fascinating to see the overall appearance. Simple, but very elegant. With a specific form of warangka, and "suasa" (mixture of gold and copper?) pendhok, hopefully it is Bantenese style too... The hilt is also fascinating -- a wooden but un-carved hilt, with natural form. Or probably kind of "akar bahar" as Rick just posted in other thread? I don't know exactly what it is. What I know that it is simply beautiful... Once again, I apologise to you all to deal with this "show and tell game" again... GANJAWULUNG |
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#2 |
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Please don't apologize Ganja. While it is probably true that we will not unlock the deeper levels of keris understanding with the "game" of show and tell it is also imperative that we all get the chance to view and discuss as many keris as possible to help us on our way, especially when it is a rarer form like this one. It cannot replace hands on examinations, but it is better than nothing. My only regret is that we don't have detailed close-ups nor can we see the blade. But it sure looks really interesting anyway.
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#3 | |
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Below, the view of the whole blade for you... GANJAWULUNG |
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#4 |
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Thanks Ganja.
![]() hmmm...i think i love this keris! ![]() |
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#5 |
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I love the sheath!
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#6 |
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I hope you will pardon me Ganjawulung, I just had to see it larger .
![]() Beautiful ! |
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#7 |
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No problem at all, Rick, for the sake of our keris-knowledge. I know, you notice much on the "akar bahar" hilt. So here is more close ups on both sides of the hilt and lower part of the puthut-kembar keris...
GANJAWULUNG |
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#8 |
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Dear Pak Ganjawulung,
is the blade also picit? I may to see this on your pictures. sajen |
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#9 |
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Thanks so much Ganjawulung .
![]() I have no idea what that material is; I do know the form is a natural for a hilt; almost as if Nature had intended it to be . |
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#10 | |
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![]() ![]() sajen |
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#11 |
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Thanks for sharing Ganjawulung, but one question - the keris blade itself looked rather newish. And for a museum in Java, it seems rare that the keris is out of stained, and in a polished state (ok, it has some rust).
How does the museum know it is an authetic old keris? Also, come to think about it, the sheath is in immaculate condition; very crisp. who had preserved the wood so well before the acquisition by the museum? ![]() Just some questions out of my own curiosity. ![]() |
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#12 | |||
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National Museum is not a young museum at all. It used to be called as Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, or The Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences. And was build or estabished by Governor General of The Netherlands East-Indies Council, Reinier de Klerk on 24th of April 1778. You will admire to see old but still looked very well maintained collection of this museum -- and of course, the "sister" Tropen museum in Amsterdam... I have asked the museum's curator, why don't they stain the kerises? They said, they threat to keep the kerises the way they preserve old collection, with some certain solution... Many fascinating old kerises are still kept in this old museum of Jakarta, and AFAIK in Amsterdam too... GANJAWULUNG Last edited by ganjawulung; 9th August 2009 at 06:02 AM. |
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#13 | |
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Ganjawulung, perhaps it would've helped if you had explained that staining was not a traditional Soenda custom. This only started to become fashionable after the beginning of the 17th. C., when the Soenda (except Banten & Cirebon) had little choice but to become part of Mataram (Islam). A lot of Djawa culture then began to enter the Soenda culture, usually brought back by Soenda ruling class who had 'served their time' in Mataram.(e.g. the Gamelan is a prime example). If the keris is a kadaton heirloom, then it was likely returned by the Dutch. Kadaton kerises disappeared after the dissolution of the Banten Sultanate. Some came to be in the possession of Chinese merchants. Others were already in Dutch museums. Best, Last edited by Amuk Murugul; 9th August 2009 at 07:39 AM. |
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#14 |
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Thanks for posting this Pak Ganja.
Interesting indeed. I have not been in Jakarta since 1978. In 1976 I visted the old Musium Pusat, which I believe is now the National Musium.I photographed every keris that was on display. A check of those 30+ year old photos does not seem to show this keris. So let's assume it was in storage at that time --- either that or I missed ir, but frankly, I doubt that I did. So Pak Ganja, my questions are these:- do we know which Sultan of Banten owned this keris? do we know when the Museum acquired this keris? do we have provenance for this keris? Indeed, a very interesting piece. |
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#15 |
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Indeed, Alan has asked one question i have been meaning to ask; which Sultan of Banten:
http://su.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasultanan_Banten |
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#16 | |||
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Fortunately, I was having a special permision for taking pictures on 5 (five) selected kerises last year -- including this Sultan Banten's keris -- and for publishing the pictures for non-commercial but cultural purpose during the Keris Exhibition in Bentara Budaya Jakarta on August 2008. So, if you want to take any photo of the museum collection, then you must have written permission from your institution, and must mention which pieces -- one by one -- you want to photography. The process takes days of permission by phone. Then, if you have the agreed time to take the photos, it needs some more certain conditions such as: (1) the photo-session must be witnessed by the head of the Anthropological Departement of the Museum, (2) witnessed by the head of Archeological Dept of the Museum, (3) witnessed by the Museum security during the photo session, (4) the museum official will take for you the pieces one by one, not altogether -- it means that the worker of the museum will unclose the glass box, heavy glass box, and take the pieces you want, (5) you must wear special gloves from the museum to handle the kerises, (6) almost impossible to take photo without sufficient digital apparels, because of the gloomy lignt in the museum -- and prohibited to take the pieces outside the museum, except with very very special permission from the state for a special exhibition. So, it was almost impossible for me to take the whole collection (tens, or even hundred pieces of kerises) of the museum, even by snapshot. The glass will reflect your own face. And the security camera behind you will always watch you at anytime... And not all the kerises are unsheated -- like the examples below (some closed kerises, but fortunately, I have permission to see one or two of them unsheated)... Anyway, later I will provide the more complete informations on what you have asked... Thanks for the response Quote:
GANJAWULUNG Last edited by ganjawulung; 10th August 2009 at 12:52 AM. |
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#17 |
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A bit of a different situation to that which prevailed back in the 1970's, Pak Ganja.
I visited the museum many times prior to my last Jakarta visit in 1978, and I took many photographs. Of course, the keris and other objects I photographed were not taken out of the display cases, but I had no great difficulty in taking photos through the glass. I was using a Nikon F with standard 50mm lens at that time, and 200ASA film. The images are not perfect, but they're pretty good --- certainly good enough to identify individual keris. This prohibition on taking photos in museums seems to be widespread these days. Everywhere I go I see the signs, and as a general rule I ignore those signs. If there is somebody standing near you can't take a pic, but if there is not --- what can they do? It will be quite interesting to learn the background of that keris. |
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#18 |
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Thanks Alan,
And of course, it is impossible too to make pictures like these photos, without unsheating the keris, or uncover the glass box of the keris.... Anyway, thanks for your response GANJAWULUNG |
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#19 |
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Yes, of course. These are much better pics than mine. What I have is not pics of each separate item, but groups of items, taken through glass. Still, more than adequate to allow identification of individual items.
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