Keris - javanese blade in Kedah mounts?

A. G. Maisey · 6th December 2012, 10:25 PM

For a full size, normal Surakarta pakem keris the tang should be between 7cm. and 7.5cm.

But there is a great deal of variation possible when we move away from Surakarta and into other parts of Jawa, other districts, other Kraton standards, villages with no real standards, other time periods.

Madura tangs often display a smaller diameter directly above the gonjo, and bear evidence of a punch being used to tighten the gonjo to the pesi, this keris of Gustav's appears to have a hint of this narrowing and there might be traces of a punch being used --- but this is not sufficient to over-rule the things that say it is not Madura.

This is a small keris:- it will have a shorter pesi than the norm.

Madura keris usually have a longer pesi than Jawa mainland keris (Madura is a part of East Jawa --- something many people tend to forget).

In a quality Javanese keris the pesi will be substantial. The reason people think of Jawa keris as having spindly pesi is because usually we only see very sub-standard Javanese keris and usually those keris are in poor to extremely poor condition. Good quality Javanese keris are not flimsy, especially if they are relatively recent, say within the last 200-300 years, and in good condition..

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6th December 2012, 10:25 PM	#13
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,019	For a full size, normal Surakarta pakem keris the tang should be between 7cm. and 7.5cm. But there is a great deal of variation possible when we move away from Surakarta and into other parts of Jawa, other districts, other Kraton standards, villages with no real standards, other time periods. Madura tangs often display a smaller diameter directly above the gonjo, and bear evidence of a punch being used to tighten the gonjo to the pesi, this keris of Gustav's appears to have a hint of this narrowing and there might be traces of a punch being used --- but this is not sufficient to over-rule the things that say it is not Madura. This is a small keris:- it will have a shorter pesi than the norm. Madura keris usually have a longer pesi than Jawa mainland keris (Madura is a part of East Jawa --- something many people tend to forget). In a quality Javanese keris the pesi will be substantial. The reason people think of Jawa keris as having spindly pesi is because usually we only see very sub-standard Javanese keris and usually those keris are in poor to extremely poor condition. Good quality Javanese keris are not flimsy, especially if they are relatively recent, say within the last 200-300 years, and in good condition..