Thread: keris palembang
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Old 23rd August 2020, 11:41 PM   #36
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,675
Default Refer Post 34

Yes Kai, you're right, if I look at a blade it is measured against a mental template, initial appraisal is always based on overall impression that takes into account the dominant feeling of the pawakan, and any particular characteristic that is only attributable to a particular classification.

Once you have that you then examine more closely to try to disprove the initial evaluation. If you cannot disprove that initial evaluation, it stands.

Blumbangan is of relative importance but it cannot over-rule everything else.

Blade classification in my terms is "tangguh" in the terms of just about everybody else, I use "classification" because I have yet to meet anybody from a western culture who truly understands all the things that "keris tangguh" expresses to a Javanese ahli keris. Use of the word "classification" simplifies things and brings the whole concept back to something that people who are outside Javanese culture can more or less understand.

Never forget this:- the Solonese tangguh system was initiated for very specific reasons, reasons that I will not go into here, it was not initiated so that keris collectors would have something to talk about. This tangguh system should only be applied to very high quality blades of investment quality. Yes everybody now wants to stick a tangguh onto everything, but that is not really the way things are supposed to work.

When we look very closely at a high quality blade we base our judgement on the impression , some things are measurable, I mean able to measured precisely with verniers, things like the width of a kruwingan, other things are close to impossible to measure accurately, or perhaps can be part measured and then we gauge placement and impression.

The greneng is the maker's signature. Look at the illustrations in KJ.

It is not only the signature of the maker, but also a major indicator of classification. The ron dha used in a Surakarta keris is similar to the ron dha used in a keris that is classifiable as Mojo, but it is not the same.

We need to be pay extremely close attention to detail when we look at quality keris.

Surakarta echoes Mojo, but it is very far from being the same, and within the Surakarta classification there is variation between periods and makers, and vast variation in quality.

To even begin to understand this we need a very great deal of experience. There is no easy way, there is no formula, there is nothing that can be written down as a set of rules. We need to handle one hell of a lot of keris in the presence of and under the guidance of somebody who really does understand.

The judgement of a blade classification is an opinion. Sometimes that opinion will be based on a 99% agreement with indicators, sometimes it will be based on a 51% agreement with indicators, sometimes it will be 50/50.

Whether the opinion is accepted or not is usually based upon the generally agreed position of the person giving the opinion. This is exactly the same as applies in the world of art in general where an appraiser is generally agreed as being the greatest living authority on the work of a particular period, or artist within a period.
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