Unusual pamor

A. G. Maisey · Yesterday, 11:39 PM

Hilt.
To my eye the entire hilt looks like it has been soaked in very strong tea, or maybe even coffee, & then given a good rubbing with coconut husk.

Blade core
I very much doubt that this is a recent decorative blade, OK, I'm basing my opinion on photos, but from those photos my impression is that this is not of recent manufacture. I feel that the gonjo could well be later than the body of the blade.

Rather than referring to a "blade core", it might be more correct to refer to a "cutting edge". Some older blades, I think probably most that I have seen would be around the Second Mataram era, do have an inserted cutting edge. There are several ways of producing a pamor blade with an inserted edge, but what happens as the blade ages is that with continued cleaning & maintenance that inserted edge erodes and we see the cutting edge disappear.

When I remarked that we need to see both edges at the same time, this is not possible to do in a photo, I do not mean that we look at the blade edge on, what we do is to turn the blade slightly, from side to side & continue to focus on just that section of the blade where we see the separation of cutting edge from pamor layer, we can then perhaps see a similar separation, or at least a defining line, between cutting edge & pamor layer on both sides of the blade in the same section of the blade.

Esoterica
It is believed by some people that this particular pamor can have an adverse effect upon the possessor if that person is not strong enough to withstand the esoteric influence of the powers contained in the blade. However, many other people believe that it has strong defensive power to protect against black magic. It is a fairly widespread belief that it is definitely not a pamor that is suited to everybody, & you don't really know if it is suited to you or not until the sh*t hits the fan, so its best to stay away from it.
It is a relatively easy pamor to produce.
As for being "sought after", well a lot of collectors are rather partial to this pamor, I myself am pretty found of it & have a very old, very good example, but most keris literate, traditional Javanese people tend to avoid this pamor.

Yesterday, 11:39 PM	#12
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,168	Hilt. To my eye the entire hilt looks like it has been soaked in very strong tea, or maybe even coffee, & then given a good rubbing with coconut husk. Blade core I very much doubt that this is a recent decorative blade, OK, I'm basing my opinion on photos, but from those photos my impression is that this is not of recent manufacture. I feel that the gonjo could well be later than the body of the blade. Rather than referring to a "blade core", it might be more correct to refer to a "cutting edge". Some older blades, I think probably most that I have seen would be around the Second Mataram era, do have an inserted cutting edge. There are several ways of producing a pamor blade with an inserted edge, but what happens as the blade ages is that with continued cleaning & maintenance that inserted edge erodes and we see the cutting edge disappear. When I remarked that we need to see both edges at the same time, this is not possible to do in a photo, I do not mean that we look at the blade edge on, what we do is to turn the blade slightly, from side to side & continue to focus on just that section of the blade where we see the separation of cutting edge from pamor layer, we can then perhaps see a similar separation, or at least a defining line, between cutting edge & pamor layer on both sides of the blade in the same section of the blade. Esoterica It is believed by some people that this particular pamor can have an adverse effect upon the possessor if that person is not strong enough to withstand the esoteric influence of the powers contained in the blade. However, many other people believe that it has strong defensive power to protect against black magic. It is a fairly widespread belief that it is definitely not a pamor that is suited to everybody, & you don't really know if it is suited to you or not until the sh*t hits the fan, so its best to stay away from it. It is a relatively easy pamor to produce. As for being "sought after", well a lot of collectors are rather partial to this pamor, I myself am pretty found of it & have a very old, very good example, but most keris literate, traditional Javanese people tend to avoid this pamor.