Sumatran kris

[A. G. Maisey]

Actually, the jejeran does have cecekan.

In Jawa Tengah, a planar hilt lacking cecekan is usually used for sandang walikat dress, it does not relate to hierarchical status.

[A. G. Maisey]

That little bit of adjustment that I did prompted me to have a closer look at what remains of the tikel alis.

This keris has the older style of tikel alis that goes right through to the front of the gandhik, & the blade overall has suffered some erosion. That erosion has taken definition from the lower edge of the tikel alis, that is the reason that it looks a bit queer. There have not been any alterations to the blade intended to increase perceived value, it is just an old, simple blade that has suffered some neglect.

It is always difficult to try to make a balanced assessment of a keris from a photo, in the hand many things become apparent that are simply not obvious in even the very best of professional photographs.

[Pak Daud]

Pak Alan, perhaps this additional information would be useful.
According to pak Kuntadi in his thesis: "Existence and development of Javanese Keris through a cultural perspective." Program Studi Kriya, Fakultas Senirupa dan design, Institute Seni Indonesia, Surakarta 2019.

Keris Banyumasan (Eastern region Central Java) as well Central Java in general, usually using "ring" (mendak) for their Kerises. You are right, "planar hilt" (selut) is additional esthetics and social status. In his argument, that s ring (mendak) is a must for 3 in 1, either for keris and his dress (dandanan).
Because representation of philosophy of keris itself.
Additionally, Keris must consist of 3 parts: Wilah, Gonjo and Pesi. These rules are also applied to them dressings. It must consist of 3 parts as well. Such as Warongko (scabbard), Mendak (ring), and Deder (hilt). If one would add planar (selut), it is still considered as "ring section".
There is an adagium within Tosan Aji (keris/dhuwung/tombak) that says:
"Curiga manjing warongko jumbuhing kawulo lan Gusti" in soft transtlation we can say "Keris inserted to it's scabbard, is sybolizing harmony between mortal to his Supreme Being." So, I think I agree to what pak Kuntadi said. In conclusion: that ring is a must between Keris and Deder (hilt), if one would go to perfection that is.

Unfortunately, them pictures were one sided, only turned same side but upside down. I wonder if we were fortunate enough to have another side to make further assament to be discussed further, as to make comparison.

I agree, upon inspection, the tikel alis is leaning toward Middle Mataram, the difference perhaps berm-gap between Blumbangan/Pejetan to bottom of Tikel-alis clearly looked as if it was pinched.
By contrast early Madura was leaning toward Hindu Majapahit/Singhasari. In which the tikel alis should be like "J" as in fishing Hook, with bottom end of hook crashing toward edge of gandik.
(pardon: As newbie so I think I need to wait a tad more to be able to upload pictures). Pray thou wilt illuminate tis simpleton sire

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you very much for your further comments Pak Daud, I much appreciate your interest & involvement in our discussion. I am not aware of Pak Kuntadi's work, I have found that this paper is published online with "scribd", I am not a subscriber to "scribd", and I have no intention of becoming one. I would like to read Pak Kuntadi's paper but I will not provide my bank details to do so.

Just a few points I will mention:-

Banyumas is in South-Western Central Jawa
The word "planar" refers to "planes" or flat surfaces, the Surakarta & Jogjakarta hilt styles have flat surfaces, so in English they can be referred to as "planar" hilts. The word "planar" has nothing at all to do with the selut.

In respect of this aphorism:-

"Curiga manjing warongko jumbuhing kawulo lan Gusti"

and the understanding that you have given:-

"Keris inserted to it's scabbard, is sybolizing harmony between mortal to his Supreme Being."

the meaning that you have provided is a rather new understanding, & it reflects the rise of Islam in Jawa. During the 1970's and continuing until perhaps, more or less the beginning of the 21st century, this little piece of wisdom was often understood as symbolic of the desired harmonious relationship between husband & wife, the keris having a male nature, & the wrongko having a female nature, it was often used in speeches at wedding receptions. In fact, it is probably still used in this "male:female" application, but it is a long time since I attended a Javanese wedding ceremony.

However, the nature of an aphorism is that it reduces a philosophical or moral teaching to a bite-sized chunk of wisdom, and the bite-sized chunk of wisdom that you have presented is a rather recent one, one that I feel might not have sprung to the minds of people such as Panembahan Hardjonegoro(Alm.) nor Empu Suparman Supowijoyo(Alm.) nor Pande Seni Keris (Empu) Pauzan Pusposukadgo(Alm.).

Of course, an aphorism can have multiple applications, and as societies change, so can the ways in which the members of a society communicate with one another can also change.

In so far as the composition of the Javanese keris is concerned, in fact, the wilah (blade) is the keris, or more correctly, the Dhuwung (Kr.), all other parts that constitute a keris that is suited to use are only dress, dress that can be changed according to the need. The items that can be used in the dress of a keris vary considerably and are usually chosen with specific parameters in mind.

Yes, the keris does consist of wilah (bilah) + gonjo (ganja) + pesi.