Keris Coteng

[maxbliss888]

Coteng

Can anyone enlighten how old is the Keris?

[maxbliss888]

More photos

[maxbliss888]

Before and after polish

[David]

Nice looking keris coteng dress Max. I must admit that keris from this area are not my strong suit, but i do recognize this as being a good old example of this rather rare form. I will leave it to someone better versed in this area to try to pinpoint a date for you, but it has always been my impression (perhaps wrongly so) that the coteng was a pre-cursor to the tajong hilt style. Therefore i would imagine that old versions of it (as opposed to ones recreated in contemporary times) should have a reasonable amount of age. Of course, you don't show us the blade here which could be older than this dress, but if i had to guess i would probably place this at least as old as late 18th to early 19th century.

[maxbliss888]

Hi David!

Enclosed photo of the Keris before cleaning

[maxbliss888]

Another Coteng

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Content 3

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Coteng1

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The various sizes

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More photos

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by maxbliss888

More photos

OMG, from where you obtain all the Cotengs? I looking since years for a Coteng for my own collection. Great colletion!

Regards,
Detlef

[maxbliss888]

Thanks.

I am currently working and staying in Thailand which made it easier to get in touch with these.

[maxbliss888]

I have thought that the length of the Coteng is often short. However, I was wrong as there are some longer one...

[maxbliss888]

Close up

[maxbliss888]

I was told that the wooden Coteng Hulu are older then the silver one. Any comments?

[maxbliss888]

This is another example..

[Sajen]

I think that the wooden ones can be old as silver ones, you will have by both newer and older ones and think that it is mainly the form where you can see the age of the hilt.
Attached is my Coteng hilt, I think that this is an old form.

Regards,
Detlef

[David]

Originally Posted by maxbliss888

I was told that the wooden Coteng Hulu are older then the silver one. Any comments?

This is not really my area of keris study, but this hilt you show in post #15 looks closer to the tajong form than the coteng form. There is probably some cross-over somewhere. Perhaps some of our Malay collectors will chime in on this.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

This is not really my area of keris study, but this hilt you show in post #15 looks closer to the tajong form than the coteng form. There is probably some cross-over somewhere. Perhaps some of our Malay collectors will chime in on this.

Hello David,

a tajong hilt would have a beard, the shown hilt don't has one so I think that it is indeed a coteng hilt but a later one IMO.

Regards,
Detlef

[maxbliss888]

More close up

[maxbliss888]

Another close up photos for sharing

[David]

Max, for a guy who only just discovered keris and has only recently taken up the "hobby" you sure do seem to have collected a fairly large amount of relatively rare keris forms is a rather short period of time. Given your neophyte status, how do you choose these keris for your collection? Do you have someone to help guide your purchases?

[maxbliss888]

Hi David,

I am new to the hobby of vintage Keris and I was collecting mainly vintage watches before. I come across the Keris by chance and i find myself asking the question why I have no knowledge of the Keris around me even though I am an Asian living in Asia?

My plan originally is to only focus on Keris from Thailand (since I am currently working and staying in Thailand). Being able to move around the countries has allowed me the opportunities to explore the small regions and towns in search of these. As I am not familiar with the age of the Old vintage Keris, I will have to rely on a few Thai that I have known to help identify. As there are so many types of Keris from the region and the complexities, I though it will be a good idea just to focus on the Tajjong and Coteng...plus the fact that cash is limited and I cannot buy everything...

My journey of collecting Keris has been an interesting one especially the waiting period from seeing a photos of the Keris to touching the actual plus exploration of the country.

Even though these Thai Keris are from the Southern Thai, I have seen a few in the Northern Chiangmai region as well.

Thanks for the forum help in enlightening and knowledege sharing

[maxbliss888]

Some shots ..

[maxbliss888]

Coteng from Southern Thailand

[David]

One thing i have to say, strictly from a personal perspective, is that while this dress form is attractive and exotic i have always found the blades they contain within rather disappointing. My personal take on the keris and keris collecting is that it is the blade that is the heart and soul of the keris. If the blade doesn't grab me no amount of fancy dress is enough to draw me to it for very long. Has anyone seen examples of the coteng form that contain any blades of particular quality?

[Rick]

There may be one somewhere in this hoard of kerises Max has showered us with, but he seems reluctant to show us any close-ups of their blades .

[maxbliss888]

I like the history and authenticity of vintage Keris. As many of these Keris have been passed down by generations in harsh physical environment, I reckon that that's how some of the Keris ended up,...

Photo of close up

[maxbliss888]

Sorry about the photo quality as thee are limitation on the size of photos and I have to compressed it in order to load it up....

Not sure why sometimes I can post a bigger size photo and sometimes it get smaller..

[maxbliss888]

Originally Posted by David

One thing i have to say, strictly from a personal perspective, is that while this dress form is attractive and exotic i have always found the blades they contain within rather disappointing. My personal take on the keris and keris collecting is that it is the blade that is the heart and soul of the keris. If the blade doesn't grab me no amount of fancy dress is enough to draw me to it for very long. Has anyone seen examples of the coteng form that contain any blades of particular quality?

Yes, somehow, the blade in the Coteng seems to be disappointing then the other Keris. However, it is also a challenge to be able to find these antiques keris in excellent conditions. Moreover, IMHO, the attractiveness of the Coteng lies in its Hulu design.. Versus the other keris...