A bugis Keris for discussion

[Rafngard]

Hello All,

Since I'm at home tonight (rather than at my regularly scheduled tuesday night silat class) due to illness, I decided to take a few pics of my newest Keris. Please forgive the paper towel backdrop. I I cleaned and oiled it just before taking pics.

It was sold to me for a (in my opinion) ridiculously low price by a fellow collector. His wife (I believe of Indonesian descent) hates keris and WANTED THEM OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW. Needless to say, he was motivated to sell. Lucky me!

The blade is thick and heavy, showing a clear hexagonal cross section. While I forgot to get a photo of it, the peksi is quite thick, and a bit curved. The previous owner tells me the blade was once stained in the Javanese style, but I'm pretty happy with the current stain. There are a few spots of pitting, and it had a little bit of active rust when it arrived, but nothing WD40, lime juice, soap, water and elbow grease couldn't take care of. A few black stops remain.

The wrangka is not original to the Keris, and is newer, though the previous owner tells me both it and the keris came from Sulawesi. The shape of the gambar looks a little odd for Sulawesi to my eye, and I wonder if it has been reshaped at some point. He also says that the wrangka was originally covered in snakeskin (presumably on the gandar), but the skin was eaten by insects, who also damaged the horn on the buntut. This seems weird to me, and I haven't had any luck finding any examples of a wrangka covered with snakeskin. The silver filigree bands (which I'm very enamored with) sit a bit loosely on the gandar as is, and certainly fit more snugly with something under them. The wood is also highly chatoyant.

I'm a bit torn as to what I want to do with the wrangka. I could find a bit of snake skin, and return it to how it was, or the previous owner suggested I could made brass shims to fit under the silver bands, and polish the wood. I'm also a bit torn about the crescent shaped gambar. I'm hoping forum members might have some thoughts.

As always, any thoughts, comment, suggestions, and/or corrections are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Leif

[kai]

Hello Leif,

That's a typical Bugis style sepokal blade (not necessarily from Sulawesi though) and (after thorough cleaning of all remaining rust) good to go for centuries to come...

The wrangka is not original to the Keris, and is newer, though the previous owner tells me both it and the keris came from Sulawesi. The shape of the gambar looks a little odd for Sulawesi to my eye, and I wonder if it has been reshaped at some point. He also says that the wrangka was originally covered in snakeskin (presumably on the gandar), but the skin was eaten by insects, who also damaged the horn on the buntut. This seems weird to me, and I haven't had any luck finding any examples of a wrangka covered with snakeskin. The silver filigree bands (which I'm very enamored with) sit a bit loosely on the gandar as is, and certainly fit more snugly with something under them. The wood is also highly chatoyant.

This has certainly seen major repair attempts: The sampir/gambar has been reshaped into a kinda crescent shape but the flow of lines is gruesome (look for some good examples on the forum and do a better job!); the buntut is also not traditional but more easily replaceable; the tapering gandar is unusual but I don't see clear signs of reshaping (please take a pic without the rings); these rings look more Malay/Straits/Sumatran to me as does the hilt and pendokok.

While the original shape of the sampir apparently was the blocky Bugis style, crescent shaped cross pieces are not unusual for the Straits region and neighbouring areas. Given the good quality of the wooden parts, I doubt that adding snake skin is a good idea; I have seen a few keris with it but none looked really convincing - most likely to cover up damages or sloppy repair work. I'd add wooden shims to fix the rings.

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

Hello Leif,

agree in all points with Kai. Maybe it's to add that the silver rings from the scabbard are very nice but I have some doubt that they are the original ones.

Regards,
Detlef

[Rafngard]

Firstly, thank you both for your comments.

Secondly, apologies on it taking a bit, but, As requested, the scabbard without the rings on. It almost looks like it was originally two scabbards.

Originally Posted by kai

That's a typical Bugis style sepokal blade (not necessarily from Sulawesi though) and (after thorough cleaning of all remaining rust) good to go for centuries to come...

Am I right in thinking that a lime juice bath is the best way to handle remaining, tenacious black spots?

Originally Posted by kai

the buntut is also not traditional but more easily replaceable

How would one go about removing the buntut?

Thanks,
Leif