Little keris for comment and a few question

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

Others might have a different gage, but i tend to consider any Javanese keris under 10 inches to be a strong contender for patrem status. At 24cm that puts your blade at 9.45 inches, so yes, i would call this a patrem.
To my eyes this joint of the wrongko is rather unique. I can't remember ever seeing it before. It is a shame that the gandar broke off at the bottom. The pelet wood is quite nice and if you have anyone available with the skills creating a new gandar should not be too difficult.

Thank you David! I also would call it patrem but wanted to know what others think.
Like you I never before have seen such a joint. As you can see it's very well done.
And like you I like the pelet wrongko which shows his full beauty after a good clean.
I will see how it's possible to repair the scabbard.

Regards,
Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Detlef, I believe most people would call it a patrem.

However, strictly speaking, a keris patrem is a keris specifically for a woman.

We need to remember that in olden times, when a keris was made for a man, the length & some other features of the keris were made specifically for the man.

There were some very small men in Jawa, & this applies until now. I remember that during the 1970's I could walk into a crowd of people, say, somewhere like a market, and look over the heads of the vast bulk of people in that crowd. I stand 5'8" (1.727m) tall.

Re the joint.

A similar joint to this is often used in fixing a buntut to the tip of a gandar. A good m'ranggi can produce just about anything that the occasion demands. If the owner of the keris wanted to preserve as much of the old scabbard as possible, the m'ranggi probably decided to make the joint in this form, he might never have made this form previously.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Yes Detlef, I believe most people would call it a patrem.

However, strictly speaking, a keris patrem is a keris specifically for a woman.

We need to remember that in olden times, when a keris was made for a man, the length & some other features of the keris were made specifically for the man.

There were some very small men in Jawa, & this applies until now. I remember that during the 1970's I could walk into a crowd of people, say, somewhere like a market, and look over the heads of the vast bulk of people in that crowd. I stand 5'8" (1.727m) tall.

Re the joint.

A similar joint to this is often used in fixing a buntut to the tip of a gandar. A good m'ranggi can produce just about anything that the occasion demands. If the owner of the keris wanted to preserve as much of the old scabbard as possible, the m'ranggi probably decided to make the joint in this form, he might never have made this form previously.

Hello Alan,

It was my guess that this unusual joint could be an old repair of a former restoration.
And yes, the effect that you can look as a bule over the heads of the vast bulk of people when I am in Indonesia is known to me.

Regards,
Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

Not any more Detlef, not any more.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Not any more Detlef, not any more.

Yes, we get smaller again as we get older!

[A. G. Maisey]

and the younger generations have become taller

[Sajen]

Also very true!