Very unusual presentation kris/keris—Malay?
 

This one appears on the Oriental-Arms old web site as sold item number 10593. Here is how Artrzi Yarom described it:

Quote:

The blade of this Kris sword is early, probably late 18 C, Straight, 18 inches long, nicely fullered and show its age. The handle is carved from a single massive honey colored horn, mounted with white metal bands and collar. Later made scabbard, probably early 20 C., nicely carved wood with chased brass bands and a silver monogram. Two silver plates at the top of the scabbard show faint engraving in Arabic letters. Total length 28 inches. Very good condition. Good age patina on the blade. A small hole in the center of the fuller.

Artzi is very conservative with his dating of Moro kris, and late 18th C is as early as he dates any Moro kris on this site. Thus, a very experienced dealer thinks this is an old kris from direct inspection of the item.

However, I don't believe this is a Moro example. The pommel is similar to many Moro hilts of the 19th C, although the same style of hilt is seen on Malay kris. There are other features of this sword, however, that are atypical of a Moro kris, and I won't go into great detail about why it is not a Moro kris. Here are some features that seem atypical to me for a Moro kris:

• absence of asang-asang (never had one)
• very narrow curved ferrule
• sekar kasang abuts directly on to the gandhik (a feature more in keeping with Balinese keris I believe, and I don't recall seeing this on a Moro kris)
• an elliptical hole through the blade just above the sogokan
• uncommonly long sogokan
• atypical scabbard and carving

I think this is more likely a Malay kris, but I'm interested to hear the opinions of our keris/Malay experts. I'm very interested in hearing age estimates for this blade given Artzi's assessment.

.

Clearly a Malay sundang! My age estimation, my feeling, would be the first half of the 19th century.

Regards,
Detlef

Thanks Detlef. Why do you say "clearly a Malay sundang?" I came to that conclusion by noting that it was not a Moro kris (based on the negative features that I listed). Do you have affirmative features that lead you to think it is clearly a Malay kris?

What do you make of the greneng treatment in your assessment of age for a Malay kris?

Hi Ian,

Mainly the points you listed that it isn't a kris from the Philippines, the overall appearance.
For the second question I'll leave it to others like Gustav to answer! ;)

Artzi isn't a specialist when it comes to South-East-Asian weapons, it wasn't the first wrong description he had given.

For example:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=artzi
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=timor

Regards,
Detlef

Yes, we can all make a mistake or two. I have been impressed, however, by the volume and diversity of edged weapons that Artzi has sold over the years. The breadth of his first-hand experience is remarkable.

Let the one who is free from mistakes cast the first stone! ;)

Another similar example
 

This is another kris from Oriental-Arms old site. The descripti0n provided is as follows:

Quote:

A classical Moro Kris sword, with an old, probably 18 C. blade. 20 ½ inches long, straight, with two central fullers and forged from pattern welded steel. Later, probably late 19 C. wood handle bound with fibers and three white metal bands, and set with two light horn panels on the cockatoo shaped pommel. Two copper clamps (Baca-Baca). Later wood scabbard with painted black tip. Total length (in scabbard) 26 inches. Very good condition. Blade with few forging flaws and edge nicks.

There are some style differences from the original post above, but a lot of strong similarities too.

Hello Ian,

This blade style is usually found on the Malay peninsula. This is corroborated for the second example by the scabbard foot which is a Melayu feature (peninsula or coastal Sumatra). I'd place this blade into the second half of the 19th c.(or a tad later); hilt has been reworked/restored.

The quality of these blades can vary quite a bit. The first blade exhibits pretty poor cold work and is most likely fairly young (despite the hole in the central fuller - probably bad judgement by the worker). In this case, I'm not even positive that it represents genuine native work (vs. Madura/etc.). Fittings are also modern.

Regards,
Kai