Bali Keris for Comment
 

Hi All,

I bought this Bali keris a while ago (uwer added by me). I think the dapor and pamor are both very nice. Save for the broken last piece of grenning on the aring side, the blade is in pretty good shape. I think the blade and sheath are older than the hilt which I believe to be made of suar wood (AKA monkey pod or Rain tree, Saman Samanea). I would appreciate forum members opinions and observations so I can tell whether or not my evaluations are accurate. Can anyone id the pamor?

Sincerely,
RobT

This is pretty fair old keris Rob, the blade could do with a bit of a clean, but I would probably not go gangbusters on it, the pamor is quite readable, there does not appear to be any excessive active rust, maybe just a good soak in WD40 might be sufficient.

At times I’ve worked over a blade in this sort of condition and picked the rust out of the pitting with a needle, I use a saddlers awl with a fine needle, & under bright light & sometimes magnification.

I cannot see any breaks in the greneng, could you clarify please? Maybe the last bit of greneng in the wadidang is a remnant of a broken piece, but the image is not clear on my screen.

The hilt would be referred to in Bali/Jawa as “pelet” wood : “kayu pelet” & possibly as timoho.

I would give the pamor as ilining warih/banyu mili/air mengalir/flowing water.

One face of the blade has been forged more heavily than the other, & this has resulted in the central part of the pamor on that face as presenting as wusing wutah/ujan baas/beras wutah/beras utah/wos wutah/scattered rice grains, however, ilining warih was clearly intended, so it should be named as the maker intended, rather than as it finished up. It is a not a different pamor on each face, only one side was not as well managed as the other.

In Bali the form (dhapur) of a keris is not as strictly regulated, nor taken note of, as in Jawa, however, I would probably give this keris as Durgam Pinis, luk 11. I cannot translate this name, "durgam" seems to indicate "dangerous" or "immoral" , "pinis" is actually one of the woods used in woodcarvings.

I am naming this dhapur in accordance with present day practice of the most influential Balinese keris literate people, & I would not challenge any other name given by somebody else. In Jawa all this nomenclature thing is pretty much defined , in Bali it is much more relaxed.

Yes, the first element of Greneng is broken.

As I understand, a sheath of such proportions, with a slender crosspiece, could likely be attributed to Northern Bali.

I'm using a decent screen now, & I can see that there is a little stump in the middle of the wadidang, this is a very minor defect and in Bali it would be cleaned up the first time the keris was placed with a m'ranggi for clean & stain.

Yes, that style of sampiran (the top cross piece of the scabbard) is usually attributed to North Bali, specifically Singaraja. The style is called " gegodohan".

However, a camera angle can alter perception, & there is very little difference between some bebatun pohan styles, & this particular gegodohan style, there are several styles of each of these types of sampiran. It can be quite difficult sometimes make a correct judgement from a photo. It is a similar problem with the bebelatungan style, in a photo it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between bebatun pohan & bebelatungan.

Thanks for the Info
 

A. G. Maisey,
I’m glad my assessment was basically correct. Thanks for the pamor and dhapur info plus the cleaning advice. I think I’ll stick with the WD40 soak.

Gustav,
The Northern Bali info is valuable and I’m glad A. G. Maisey added the name gegodohan. I have another Bali keris with a really narrow sampiran (which means boat and is the Balinese term for the Javanese wranka?). I will post a picture of that keris with this response because I would like to know if it also qualifies as gegodghan and if the hilt can be called cenegan.

Sincerely,
RobT

Yes, I believe that in this case WD40 might be the way to go.

Rob, you've addressed a couple of questions to Gustav and I will refrain from providing a response to those questions.

However, I would be interested to learn where you sourced the name "cenegan" & where you heard that "sampiran" means boat, & that it is the Balinese term for a warangka/ wrangka/ wrongko.

RobT, by "Cenegan" you obviously mean Cenangan. Terminology depends on time and the linguistic/social group, that uses that terminology. My feeling at the moment is, term "Cenangan"could be something of an umbrella term for simpler hilts of related form, and possibly could be not older then 100 years, likely younger. This particular hilt looks quite like a Tapukan which has lost its hair wrapping and subsequently lacquered.

The term Sampiran - do Balinese really use it nowadays? If yes, I doubt, they do for longer then about 30 years at most, as it quite surely comes from peninsular Malay Keris community/English language writers about Keris from Malay states. The boat/ship iconology in the cross piece of sheath is stressed all the time, but word Sampir doesn't have such connotation.

According to Neka the cross piece of this second Keris would be Gegodohan, as Neka in his book seems not to distinguish between Gegodohan and Bebelatungan - he even don't use word Bebelatungan.

I am not sure if the crosspiece and the long part originally belong together, as the proportion seems to be a bit off. But even if it would be so, that's not important.

Alan, what is the difference between Bebatun Pohan and Bebelatungan in your opinion?

That response is quite good Gustav. Balinese keris belief systems that surround the keris are not all that easy to come to terms with, but they are similar to Javanese keris belief systems in that they vary somewhat from group to group, so from outside Balinese society the the overall picture is pretty much one of confusion , but inside the society that which we might understand to be so is perhaps only as good as the group from which the information came. Spellings can vary a lot, as can word forms, often at the will of a user, linguists have commented that Javanese is not a standardised language, and the transliteration from the native characters to roman characters only makes things more difficult. In all these languages we need to be fairly forgiving in the way in which a word is spelt.

A book was published in 2017, the copyright of which is held by the Puri Gede Karangasem, the objective of this publication seems to have been to provide in very simple terms some understanding of the Balinese keris from a present day perspective. There were about 20 compilers & authors involved in the production of this book & it was published over the names of Muhammad Bakrin, Toni Junus Kanjeng NgGung, & Wayan Mardita. I am unclear on the actual role of these notables, but I'm guessing that they filled the role of editors.

I am aware of other sources of information in respect of the Balinese keris, & I have used these other sources at various times, my selection of source has depended upon the situation & the need. The source I have drawn upon for my contributions to this particular thread is the book:- "The World of the Balinese Keris", this is the book I have referred to above.

I have done this because the information that is presented in this book is heavily in agreement with the beliefs, usages and attitudes of my own personal friends, associates & informants, and I tend to believe that at this point in time this information could probably be in agreement with the bulk of Balinese people who are keris literate.

I presently believe that the major difference between the bebatun pohan form of sampiran & the bebelatungan form is that bebelatungan form is marginally wider, it widens more towards the tail of the sampiran, & it appears to have a more robust presence than does the bebatun pohan form.

In respect of the word "cenangan", this is an abbreviation of the word "lelocenangan", which comes from the word "lonceng" , which can be understood as "plain" or "simple".

The word "sampiran" is from "sampir", which is a Malay word, but also appears in Javanese & Balinese, in Javanese & Balinese it has the connotation of hanging, and it can also be understood in other ways, dependent upon situation.

This is quite interesting, because the correct name for a keris in Balinese is "Kadutan", which means "something that hangs from the front of the belt", the root is "kadut", which refers to the front section of a belt or sash around the waist. The position that a Balinese keris is normally worn is at the front left. Each position in which the keris is worn has its own name & its own purpose. Yes, the word "sampir" is found in Balinese, & one of its uses is to refer to the top cross section of the keris scabbard.

As you have commented Gustav, the mention of a relationship between the scabbard form & boats is frequently encountered, especially so with the Javanese ladrangan form. Personally, I feel that this is another little bit Western World romance that has crept into some keris belief systems. I have yet to encounter it as an item of belief for anybody I know or have known, in either Jawa or Bali.

However, there does seem to be a boat relationship where one form of Balinese scabbard is concerned, & that form is the kojongan scabbard. A Balinese word for "boat" is "jong", this comes from literary & court usage which is "hejong" & which is higher level usage for the lower level "prau/prahu". If we compare early drawings of Chinese junks with the kojongan profile there is a close similarity in form.

The second keris that Rob has shown us definitely has a gegodahan sampiran, this is evidenced by the presence of the alis kidang, that widengy little curved line just next to where the foot of the sampiran enters the body.

We need to be a little bit cautious with the Neka publication, Mr. Neka himself is a respected authority in Balinese art & a member of the Pande Clan, but the credit for the text in "Keris Bali Bersejarah" probably should go to Basuki Teguh Yuwono, who is Javanese and a noted current authority in the world of the keris. A thorough reading of this book does raise a few questions.

EDIT
After I wrote the above the thought occurred to me that the word "sampir" might have appeared in Old Javanese, so I checked this, & yes, it does, Zoetmulder gives us sampir & some derivatives, including "sampiran" which he has translated as "a rack & other things upon which to hang clothes"(Zoetmulder has used BI), "sampir" he has translated as "syal, slendang" a syal is a shawl or scarf, a slendang has no true translation into English, it is a longish cloth that is worn across one shoulder & used to carry things --- including young children.
So it seems that all the way through several languages, & into antiquity this little word "sampir/sampiran" has had the idea of hanging attached to it. This hanging idea then is expressed in Balinese as "kadutan", which perhaps gives us some idea of how Balinese people have used a euphemism to disguise the true cultural value of the kadutan. This is a very common practice in Javanese keris related matters.When we start looking at little details that relate to the keris --- & maybe this applies to a lot of other things as well --- we can discover that there is much that is hidden from public view.

Alan, thank you!

Some Explanations & Clarification Requests
 

A. G. Maisey,
Many years ago I bought the hilt shown below on eBay. The seller called it a Balinese canegan hilt. I just perpetuated the error.
As for my assumption that sampiran means boat. That was simply based on my incorrect belief that sampir meant boat. I shoulda checked. As for sampiran being the Balinese word for wranka, since Gustav wrote, “a sheath of such proportions, with a slender crosspiece, could likely be attributed to Northern Bali” and you responded, “Yes, that style of sampiran (the top cross piece of the scabbard) is usually attributed to North Bali”, I thought you were referring to the entire crosspiece (wranka) and calling it by its common Balinese name. If I understand correctly what I later found online, the word sampir (from Old Javanese meaning scarf or shawl) only refers to the sheath mouth. Does this meaning also apply to the word sampiran and, when referring to keris, do both words mean the same thing?

Gustav,
So, if I understand you correctly, the proper spelling would be cenangan but, since that is a fairly recent coined catchall term for related forms of simple hilts, both of my examples should more properly be called tapukan? With this post I have provided an example complete with hair covering. The wood of this hilt is one piece but the wood of the second kris I showed is in two pieces. As for that second kris, you may very well be correct about the “crosspiece and the long part” not being original to each other. The figure in the wood of the gandar and that of the wranka don’t match. Also, that large brown patch where the two parts of the sheath join appears to be some kind of wood putty. There is also evidence of extensive repair to the same area on the back side of the keris.

Sincerely,
RobT

This picture is from the book I mentioned, it is a bit blurred & the pic in the book is small, but I think it is sufficient to tell the story. If still unclear, please do not hesitate to make a further enquiry.

Rob, I do not want to jump into hilt names, because you have addressed these questions to Gustav, & we really should wait for his response before making a comment, however, the way this discussion is moving is straight into a mine field, one of the reasons I really do not like playing name games with Indonesian terms & very much do not like playing name games with keris.

Put it this way:- you ask ten Javanese people for an opinion you'll probably get upwards of twenty firm opinions, same applies with Balinese people. And all of those 20+ opinions & ideas will depend upon a multitude of factors that nobody who is a stranger to these societies could have a hope in hell of understanding. What you think you understand today can be contradicted tomorrow, what Pak Gede told you this morning can be different to what he tells you this afternoon, & both things might be generally accepted as fact, or both things might be generally disregarded as nonsense. Maybe the only way to come to a reasonable understanding of the keris in Jawa & Bali is to immerse yourself into the two societies & at least have some sort of understanding about what you are being told & why.

Outside of keris literate people in Jawa & Bali I often find it is easier & safer to use English language terms if possible.

Rob,

as Alan indicated, we are moving in direction of a mine field. Let me illustrate this.

There is a serie of books about Arts of Dutch East Indies by J.E. Jasper, a Dutch official, who started to gather materials for it around 1914. The book which deals with Pamor and weapons was published in 1930. As in almost every book, there are inconsistencies and possible errors, but it is a very good look on Keris betwwen the world wars.

Let's take a look on non-figural Balinese Keris hilts in that book. About the form with gold wire braiding between Selut with stones and an end piece with Liking Paku figurine, he writes - it is called Loceng (which is Loncengan), in North Bali called Grantim (Gerantiman). If such hilt (in North Bali) has a plain Selut (apparently still with braiding), it is called Loceng (Loncengan). If such hilt, with Selut and Liking Paku finial, appears with plain wooden body, without braiding, it is called Telaga Ngembeng. After a couple of paragraphs he calls exactly the same hilt form Tapuk (Tapukan).
A paragraph later he speaks about hilts for Sudra people, mentions a hilt with Ijuk wrapping without giving a name.

As we see, it most probably is quite a mess in itself, and a complete mess compared with today's hilt terminology. And almost every book is so - it is a picture of writers or his informants clique and its beliefs.

In Nekas book (2010), page 128, bottom row, we have three hilts, all with a selut, two integral, two with finials - all three of them he calls Cenangan. The left and central ones are a form Jasper calls Djaglir, the right one could be called Loncengan, and, if we assume Neka uses Cenganan as a substitute for Loncengan "everything would be still OK", as Billie Holiday sings.

The problem appears, when on page 133, bottom row, three plain wooden hilts are presented, without metal Selut and finial, with hair and Ijuk wrapping, like in your #10. Neka calls them Loncengan. Some people in very recent past, including myself, were calling them Tapukan. But - if Lonceng means "plain" - they surely are plain! And so what if about 100 years before Loncengan was a name for hilt with metal Selut and finial, reserved for Triwangsa - today is today, and the same word constantly shifts the area of what it describes.

So - all depends to which clique you belong, which book do you use. And everything changes constantly in a living culture, and people often contradict to themselves.

I intend to get back later about this, I can expand a bit on what Gustav has said, but do not have time right now.

Just one comment:-

Gustav has commented:- "--- people often contradict to themselves --- "

Well, that's true everywhere, but in the two societies of South East Asia that I know best, Jawa & Bali, what we have are a couple --- or maybe a few --- factors that occur constantly across the entire population.

Humpty Dumpty said this:- "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less."

This is particulary true of Jawa, but it also applies in Bali, perhaps to a lesser degree.

People treat words spoken as their own personal property & those words can be twisted with prefixes, infixes & suffixes that will not be found in any book of grammar.

Example?:- the word "keris" used in casual friendly conversation might become "keferis" or some other corruption that the listener will recognise but any passing person will not. This is done for many reasons, one reason, & perhaps the most usual reason, is to create a flow of words that is more pleasant to the ear than if the words found in a dictionary were used. Spoken words can be treated as an art form, rather than a vehicle of information or knowledge.

Another factor is that if a question is asked by an outsider, the answer given is not really considered to be necessarily an accurate one, but it should be an answer that will have the effect of satisfying the asker & making the asker feel pleased or comfortable, so the answer is very likely to be what the respondent believes that the asker wishes to hear.

Panembahan Harjonegoro(Alm.) was a noble and a respected authority on Javanese art & a member of the Surakarta Karaton, but he was not Javanese, he was ethnic Chinese & a member of a family who were the traditional bupatis of a part of the old Surakarta kingdom.

He was once asked why it was that if a Javanese person was asked to identify a keris during the morning, he would give a different answer than if he was asked to identify the same keris after lunch.

Harjonegoro's response was that any answer to any question put to a Javanese person will be emotionally based:- if he feels good, the answer will be positive & pleasing, if he feels a bit less than good, the answer will be negative & not necessarily pleasing.

What this all boils down to is that if anybody wishes to understand keris & the society & culture from which it comes, that person must first understand the culture & society.

This, of course, also applies to understanding other things that might be a part of these societies.