Keris for ID
 

Hello,

I spotted this keris in a local antique arms shop that deals almost exclusively with Western weapons. The owner didn't have any details on its age or country of origin.

Is anyone able to throw some light on it for me? Thanks in advance!

This is one of the best keris posted on this forum for a longer time. I would say Sumatran, Riau, yet perhaps there could be some possibility it would come from Malay Peninsula. Blade is really beautiful, with a sort of Pamor Miring, which is rather rare. Hilt and wood grain on sheat are also very good.

Congratulations on a very good find!

I agree with Gustav, the only negative aspect is the missing buntut at the base of the sheath but a new one could be made.
The pamor looks like the Javanese Korowelang style, see picture.
Regards

Sumatra Bugis. The ukiran should turn 45 or 90 degrees.

Actually hilt is often turned like this one (in pictures) for storage purposes, never other way around.

Nice Bugis influenced keris with an unusually complex pamor for this style. The wood looks beautiful as well. Nice catch. :)

Thanks for all the answers guys! I've not bought the weapon yet as I wanted input from experts such as yourselves first. Is it possible to tell approximately how old it is?

The dealer is asking £145 ($232 US). That seems a reasonable price given the information above, would you agree?

Actually I did a little searching with the information given above and found a similar example:

Early 20th Century Malay / Sumatran Bugis Keris

Very nice indeed.

Even for storage purposes it should be turned 90 degrees.

Dear Henk,

may I turn your attention to this thread:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...on+hilt+keris?

Gustav,

Thank you for pointing to that most interesting and educational thread!

Dan

Beautiful keris most probable Sumatra Riau Bugis type. Top cross piece from the sheath are from kemuning wood and stem from angsana wood IMHO.
Agree with Gustav about the turn of the handle. Have handled as well some Bugis type keris where the handle was fixed in this position.

Thanks for the feedback all.

Does anyone have a feel for the age of this item? I have seen a similar example of the form dating from the early 20th Century so that would be my best guess.

Could you post a pic of the example you're referring to, please?

(I reckon that for the blade 19th c. might be also a reasonable guess.)

Regards,
Kai

When we are moving outside of Java with it's Tangguh system (which actually also isn't an age estimation system), the age estimation becomes more and more subjective (will say without a firm ground).

I feel, regarding this blade, age (19. or beginning of 20.cent) doesn't influence the value much. If we are looking to keris, quality in most cases an average western collector comes in touch is more important then age.

Of course, here's the example which I felt looks similar to the in the original post.

I have posted the link to the site this is shown on in one of my earlier posts above.

By the way, the dealer gave me full permission to post the photos here and asked if I could find out the age for him since Eastern weapons are outside his area of expertise.

Thanks, I overlooked that post (moderation, I guess); good to have pics uploaded though for later reference since links will go dead sooner or later.

Even if the suggested dating of this second keris could be substantiated, I don't think them to be similar enough to base a dating for the first keris on. BTW, while I don't neccessarily disagree with the dating in the given example, I would very much caution against taking estimated age of keris on most, if not just about all, websites/books for granted. ;)

I'm with Gustav - it doesn't really matter wether this keris blade is antique or vintage (or wether the fittings may be a bit later since these get replaced fairly regularly while a keris is being worn in a tropical climate).

Regards,
Kai

Thanks Kai, I'm learning a lot from knowledgeable fellows such as yourself!