Javanese Keris?

[Jean]

According to the EK and the Pamoratlas this pamor pattern with a triangular motif at the base and pamor Adeg above it is called Junjung Darajat and said to originate from Madura or East Java. Personally I am not convinced that the void in the middle of the blade is intentional.
Regards

[harrywagner]

Thanks A.G. and Jean. The seller bought the hilt separately, and it is a replacement. The original hilt, not pictured, is rather plain and also wood. It looks similar to the hilt I have seen on many Keris. I will post a photo as soon as time allows. Thanks again.

Harry

[David]

Originally Posted by harrywagner

The seller bought the hilt separately, and it is a replacement. The original hilt, not pictured, is rather plain and also wood. It looks similar to the hilt I have seen on many Keris.

Sometimes "plain" is better Harry simply because it is more correct. These fancier naga hilts are not only recent carvings, they are newly imagined forms that are a bit untraditional. Doesn't mean they are unattractive necessarily or should not be collected as the tiny sculptures that they are. But Alan is quite correct that this hilt doesn't belong on this keris. Something like this would be far more suitable for this keris.

[harrywagner]

Originally Posted by David

Sometimes "plain" is better Harry simply because it is more correct. These fancier naga hilts are not only recent carvings, they are newly imagined forms that are a bit untraditional. Doesn't mean they are unattractive necessarily or should not be collected as the tiny sculptures that they are. But Alan is quite correct that this hilt doesn't belong on this keris. Something like this would be far more suitable for this keris.

Thanks David. The original hilt looks almost exactly like the one in your photo.

[harrywagner]

Originally Posted by Jean

According to the EK and the Pamoratlas this pamor pattern with a triangular motif at the base and pamor Adeg above it is called Junjung Darajat and said to originate from Madura or East Java. Personally I am not convinced that the void in the middle of the blade is intentional.
Regards

Hi Jean,
I'm not sure either. The seller thought it was. I'll post some close-ups as soon as time allows. Thanks for the info!

[A. G. Maisey]

The blade is Madura or East Jawa, most likely Madura, but even so, the pamor in the sorsoran has several possibilities, and at the moment I cannot see it clearly enough to be too positive about what I'm looking at, I'm not at home right now and I'm using a very small, very cheap notebook.

The blade crack probably started as a cold shut --- a welding flaw --- but would then have been preserved and refined to make it into a magically charged complong that will capture beautiful women and late model Maseratis for you, simply by looking through the crack at them and wishing.

[harrywagner]

Originally Posted by Jean

According to the EK and the Pamoratlas this pamor pattern with a triangular motif at the base and pamor Adeg above it is called Junjung Darajat and said to originate from Madura or East Java. Personally I am not convinced that the void in the middle of the blade is intentional.
Regards

Hi Jean,
Here are some close-ups of the blade. The seller thought the split was intentional. I think it adds interest to the knife, so if it was an accident, it was a fortunate one!

Harry

[Jean]

Hello Harry,
Thanks for the pics, I maintain my opinion that the split is accidental but if you like it, that's OK!
I attach the pic of a typical blade with combong, as you can see the void in the blade is due to the wear of the grooves in the sogokan.
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

I agree with you Jean:- is is accidental, but it did not look like it does now directly after the weld failed. It started as a cold shut, an accident, but it was preserved and improved into a magical blade feature.

The thinking is:- this was given to us by God, who are we to refuse it? no, I won't try to get the weld to take, I will accept God's gift and enhance it.

[David]

Jean, while i have often seen people refer to holes worn through sogokan by excessive access washing i do have to wonder if this was the original intention of the term combong (or complong). I have seen blades where such an opening is obviously the intention of the smith and have to wonder if people calling these worn out blades "combong" is just a way of adding special interest where none should really exist.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Jean, while i have often seen people refer to holes worn through sogokan by excessive access washing i do have to wonder if this was the original intention of the term combong (or complong). I have seen blades where such an opening is obviously the intention of the smith and have to wonder if people calling these worn out blades "combong" is just a way of adding special interest where none should really exist.

Hi David,
I don't know and frankly I have not a very strong interest in these blades
If you search "keris combong" on Google you will find many pics of combong blades in the 3 categories (wear, welding flaw, and intentional). There is for instance a "special kamardikan keris" with an obviously intentional combong.
BTW Dr Google does not seem to recognize the term complong and I must say that I never heard it.
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Oh David!!!!

You doubter!!!!

Goodness,gracious me!