Bali Keris - Ex From Frey Collection

A. G. Maisey · 19th August 2015, 09:41 AM

David, I used the word "troubled" in the sense that I was unable to place either the hilt or the selut into a totally Balinese context. Quite simply I have never seen a Balinese hilt of this style. I do not doubt that it is Balinese, but I cannot place it within the range of Balinese hilts with which I am familiar. Possibly somebody else can, but I cannot.

Yes, I agree, your hilt does share some similarities with the East Javanese one you have posted a pic of, that's the reason I wrote that possibly origin might be the Balinese community in the Eastern tip of Jawa, in the Banyuwangi regency.

However, the difference in the way the motif is carved bears no similarity at all to the East Javanese style, rather, it is as if somebody needed to create a gerantim, but lacked the resources to make one in the usual way, so they adapted the normal gerantim curl into the motif carved in wood.

I do not doubt for one moment that the fitting of the cup to the hilt was intentional, and I can see it has been done in a professional manner. When the traditional resources are not available, people do the best they can with what they have. We see quite a bit of this with keris dress. We're all used to seeing keris that follow the formal requirements of kraton --- or in the case of Bali, puri --- but there were and still are lots of people who do not come under the direct authority of the seats of royalty and entrenched cultural requirements.

This is quite a nice quality keris, it comes from a known source, it has been published in a prestigious magazine. My approach would be to consider the obvious quality and ignore the small deviation from the expected.

19th August 2015, 09:41 AM	#9
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,019	David, I used the word "troubled" in the sense that I was unable to place either the hilt or the selut into a totally Balinese context. Quite simply I have never seen a Balinese hilt of this style. I do not doubt that it is Balinese, but I cannot place it within the range of Balinese hilts with which I am familiar. Possibly somebody else can, but I cannot. Yes, I agree, your hilt does share some similarities with the East Javanese one you have posted a pic of, that's the reason I wrote that possibly origin might be the Balinese community in the Eastern tip of Jawa, in the Banyuwangi regency. However, the difference in the way the motif is carved bears no similarity at all to the East Javanese style, rather, it is as if somebody needed to create a gerantim, but lacked the resources to make one in the usual way, so they adapted the normal gerantim curl into the motif carved in wood. I do not doubt for one moment that the fitting of the cup to the hilt was intentional, and I can see it has been done in a professional manner. When the traditional resources are not available, people do the best they can with what they have. We see quite a bit of this with keris dress. We're all used to seeing keris that follow the formal requirements of kraton --- or in the case of Bali, puri --- but there were and still are lots of people who do not come under the direct authority of the seats of royalty and entrenched cultural requirements. This is quite a nice quality keris, it comes from a known source, it has been published in a prestigious magazine. My approach would be to consider the obvious quality and ignore the small deviation from the expected.