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Old 18th February 2021, 07:10 AM   #4
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,676
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This is an interesting keris.

There are several things that strike the eye immediately upon seeing this keris:-

Wilah

the front of the gandhik is slightly concave

the gonjo is inclined to be thin and with only a very slight curve

the tikel alis is the old style that proceeds to the front of the gandhik

the material appears to be coarse and the pamor looks as if it has been "smeared" over the surface; this material would require close examination under magnification before any conclusions could be drawn.

it looks as if there is a rudimentary ada-ada

The slightly concave gandhik front is associated with West Jawa more than any other location, it is fairly common in West Jawa keris and seldom found in Central Jawa & East Jawa

Gonjo

The thin, flat gonjo is a Pajajaran tell, the sirah cecak has been damaged, but if it can be imagined as undamaged a Pajajaran classification could be supported, and the same is true of the buntut urang.

Wrongko

The down turned lip at the front of the atasan is associated with areas west of Tegal, there is a similar style associated with Blambangan, but here it is not as pronounced as in the example under discussion, and the same is true of a similar Balinese style.

Questions

Is the cross section of the body of the blade smoothly curved on its faces, or is there evidence of a slight ridge at its center?

The blade is within length parameters for a Javanese blade, and it is relatively broad, but is this blade also thick? Does it feel heavy or is it light in the hand? Is it lively and easily moved or is it a weight that requires a conscious hand movement? To judge this the keris needs to be held with thumb & index finger pinching the blumbangan and the gonjo resting on the index finger, with the hilt itself only loosely held, the blade more or less supported on the index finger as a fulcrum point.

Is the blade a reasonably good fit to the wrongko , maybe a bit sloppy, but that sloppiness able to be attributed to wear rather than to a poor refit?
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