A warrior's keris

BluErf · 11th December 2004, 06:31 AM

A true-blue Keris Sulawesi sepokal made for the purpose of combat, no doubt.

Massive 15inch blade forged from very good steel (maybe European?), with no apparent pamor except for the wengkon. Blade is very sharp, with not much perabots, but it cuts a nice enough profile. This keris cut me when I forgot myself and touched its edges carelessly. It has quite a number of nicks on the edges, especially towards the upper half. If you look at the last picture, you can see the temper mark goes 4/5 of the way down towards the base. Given these characteristics, I hazard that this keris was a warrior's keris, and one who had his fair share of combat.

Notice that on the aring end of the ganja, there is an 'x' incised on top. I always associate such notches as being the 'anchor' for applying kinatah. Of course, I have no proof, and there are no gold residue left.

The profile of the sampir is typical 'awkward' Sulawesi style, but strangely, when it is put together with the equally 'awkward' batang, hulu and pendoko, it looks 'correct' and 'complements' each other. I'm not sure if you get what I mean -- there are times when you look at a keris and have the feeling that the parts do not fit properly together. Something is 'wrong'. Only when you replace the parts with those from the same region, then does the whole keris look 'correct'.

The sheath is made from yellowish-brown kemuning wood which I've grown to associate with Sulawesi. In fact, I'm pretty sure that by looking at the wood, one can tell which region it came from, even if its the same species, like in this case.

The buntut is a very 'crude' ivory plug, but with very nice webbed cracks at the bottom only.

The sheath is damaged in 3 places, but was repaired expertly a long time ago. I think most of you can only see 1, at most 2, of the spots where the repairs were made.

The interesting thing about this sheath is that it is very compact, and when the keris is sheathed in it, it makes one think that it must be an average sized blade in there. Only when the blade is unsheathed does one realize the monstrosity of the blade. 15inches may not sound very much for a keris, but when it is a Bugis sepokal blade, it is massive. There is no excess length or width in the sheath, evey last 1/8in is used to house the blade. So I give very high marks to the mranggi who created this 'optical illusion'.

BluErf · 11th December 2004, 06:34 AM

last 2 pics

nechesh · 11th December 2004, 06:53 AM

No doubt a very function blade, yet elegant in it's simplicity. I would, of course, love to see it properly stained so that the wengkon line stands out against the blade. I think that would make it appear even more elegant and is, after all, the way the blade was meant to look. I think you may be right about the incised "X" on the aring end. It seems a very plausible explanation.
Beautiful keris! Thanks for showing. Any idea on the age?

Radu Transylvanicus · 11th December 2004, 08:32 AM

The ivory is fossil pachiderm ...

rasdan · 11th December 2004, 02:59 PM

Hi Blu,

A very fine keris indeed. I really admire it. I think if the blade is stained properly, it will reveal the wengkon plus perhaps some pulo tirto. (just guessing) I have a keris that seems to be made with almost similar material. It was already stained when i got it from Adni. Due to some reasons, i cleaned the staining and the pamor that were used to be very revealing turned out to have almost no distinguishment with the steel. Attached are some photos prior to my cleaning.

Another thing, if u are ready to do some "experiment with the sheath" (which Raja Muda always tells me not to) i think the grain of the wood can be enhanced with a little application of wood dye. However, it the current finishing are original to the sheath, it is not advisable to do it. (which i know that u wont)

I'll send the pictures of the blade after cleaning on Monday.

BluErf · 11th December 2004, 05:09 PM

Hi Radu,

The ivory seems to be normal old ivory, not fossilized. I've a couple of ivory handles with that kind of 'webbed' fine cracks. The ivory is still milky white and the grain 'moist' (if I may call it that) and visible. Not the dry stone-like grain of fossilized ivory.

Hi Rasdan,

Adni had tried to etch the keris twice. It turned jet black except for the wengkon. So we gathered that there's no visibile pamor except for the wengkon.

11th December 2004, 06:31 AM	#1
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	A warrior's keris A true-blue Keris Sulawesi sepokal made for the purpose of combat, no doubt. Massive 15inch blade forged from very good steel (maybe European?), with no apparent pamor except for the wengkon. Blade is very sharp, with not much perabots, but it cuts a nice enough profile. This keris cut me when I forgot myself and touched its edges carelessly. It has quite a number of nicks on the edges, especially towards the upper half. If you look at the last picture, you can see the temper mark goes 4/5 of the way down towards the base. Given these characteristics, I hazard that this keris was a warrior's keris, and one who had his fair share of combat. Notice that on the aring end of the ganja, there is an 'x' incised on top. I always associate such notches as being the 'anchor' for applying kinatah. Of course, I have no proof, and there are no gold residue left. The profile of the sampir is typical 'awkward' Sulawesi style, but strangely, when it is put together with the equally 'awkward' batang, hulu and pendoko, it looks 'correct' and 'complements' each other. I'm not sure if you get what I mean -- there are times when you look at a keris and have the feeling that the parts do not fit properly together. Something is 'wrong'. Only when you replace the parts with those from the same region, then does the whole keris look 'correct'. The sheath is made from yellowish-brown kemuning wood which I've grown to associate with Sulawesi. In fact, I'm pretty sure that by looking at the wood, one can tell which region it came from, even if its the same species, like in this case. The buntut is a very 'crude' ivory plug, but with very nice webbed cracks at the bottom only. The sheath is damaged in 3 places, but was repaired expertly a long time ago. I think most of you can only see 1, at most 2, of the spots where the repairs were made. The interesting thing about this sheath is that it is very compact, and when the keris is sheathed in it, it makes one think that it must be an average sized blade in there. Only when the blade is unsheathed does one realize the monstrosity of the blade. 15inches may not sound very much for a keris, but when it is a Bugis sepokal blade, it is massive. There is no excess length or width in the sheath, evey last 1/8in is used to house the blade. So I give very high marks to the mranggi who created this 'optical illusion'. Attached Images

11th December 2004, 06:34 AM	#2
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	last 2 pics Attached Images

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11th December 2004, 06:53 AM	#3
nechesh Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 940	No doubt a very function blade, yet elegant in it's simplicity. I would, of course, love to see it properly stained so that the wengkon line stands out against the blade. I think that would make it appear even more elegant and is, after all, the way the blade was meant to look. I think you may be right about the incised "X" on the aring end. It seems a very plausible explanation. Beautiful keris! Thanks for showing. Any idea on the age?

11th December 2004, 08:32 AM	#4
Radu Transylvanicus Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: 2008-2010 Bali, 1998-2008 USA Posts: 271	The ivory is fossil pachiderm ...

11th December 2004, 02:59 PM	#5
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 368	Hi Blu, A very fine keris indeed. I really admire it. I think if the blade is stained properly, it will reveal the wengkon plus perhaps some pulo tirto. (just guessing) I have a keris that seems to be made with almost similar material. It was already stained when i got it from Adni. Due to some reasons, i cleaned the staining and the pamor that were used to be very revealing turned out to have almost no distinguishment with the steel. Attached are some photos prior to my cleaning. Another thing, if u are ready to do some "experiment with the sheath" (which Raja Muda always tells me not to) i think the grain of the wood can be enhanced with a little application of wood dye. However, it the current finishing are original to the sheath, it is not advisable to do it. (which i know that u wont) I'll send the pictures of the blade after cleaning on Monday.

11th December 2004, 05:09 PM	#6
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	Hi Radu, The ivory seems to be normal old ivory, not fossilized. I've a couple of ivory handles with that kind of 'webbed' fine cracks. The ivory is still milky white and the grain 'moist' (if I may call it that) and visible. Not the dry stone-like grain of fossilized ivory. Hi Rasdan, Adni had tried to etch the keris twice. It turned jet black except for the wengkon. So we gathered that there's no visibile pamor except for the wengkon.