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Panton · 10th February 2006, 12:33 PM

Greetings all,

I came across this forum a few weeks ago and have used your expert knowledge almost addictively since then to shed some light on the blades that I have indiscriminately accumulated over the years.
By the high standards of the forum, most of my "collection" would qualify as interesting junk at the most but each piece is dear to me nevertheless.
If I may, I will eventually have them checked by you all.

A few days ago I rescued a few keris.
I have never actually liked or handled a keris before, I prefer blades that can be used combatively and the keris (sauf les moro) always seemed more of a ritual item.
But these guys, although they are in a sorry state, exuded a kind of presence that made me buy them just to give them a decent home.
No scabbards, unforunately.
They seem to be rather small, the longest one being 45cm the smallest a mere 32cm (strange, broad blade at that)

All the hilts are loose, the spacers between blade and hilts are either missing or wrong/ill fitting...
No.3 has got an interesting, very distinctive repetitive pattern which is what I would assume to be some kind of pamor...could be wrong.
From what I learned by using the search function they seem to be from Java and at least turn of the century (19th to 20th)

I gather that it is improper to display a keris without a scabbard but since these do not have them, would it be bad taste to mount them together on a nice hardwood board?

What should be done with them? Clean, etch, scrap.....?
I would be grateful for some expert opinion.

For now, here they are in all their sorry splendour:

10th February 2006, 12:33 PM	#1
Panton Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3	new member Greetings all, I came across this forum a few weeks ago and have used your expert knowledge almost addictively since then to shed some light on the blades that I have indiscriminately accumulated over the years. By the high standards of the forum, most of my "collection" would qualify as interesting junk at the most but each piece is dear to me nevertheless. If I may, I will eventually have them checked by you all. A few days ago I rescued a few keris. I have never actually liked or handled a keris before, I prefer blades that can be used combatively and the keris (sauf les moro) always seemed more of a ritual item. But these guys, although they are in a sorry state, exuded a kind of presence that made me buy them just to give them a decent home. No scabbards, unforunately. They seem to be rather small, the longest one being 45cm the smallest a mere 32cm (strange, broad blade at that) All the hilts are loose, the spacers between blade and hilts are either missing or wrong/ill fitting... No.3 has got an interesting, very distinctive repetitive pattern which is what I would assume to be some kind of pamor...could be wrong. From what I learned by using the search function they seem to be from Java and at least turn of the century (19th to 20th) I gather that it is improper to display a keris without a scabbard but since these do not have them, would it be bad taste to mount them together on a nice hardwood board? What should be done with them? Clean, etch, scrap.....? I would be grateful for some expert opinion. For now, here they are in all their sorry splendour: Attached Images