2 Keris Panjang

[Rafngard]

Hello All,

A keris panjang has been on my list for a while, and I have recently acquired not one but two! The shorter (and frankly better maintained) one came from a fellow forum member, the longer one came from a epray.

The longer one has the classic "comma" shaped ricikans element. I've removed a significant amount of rust from the blade (using soap, water, wd40, lime juice, and "elbow grease"). It's not perfect, but you should have seen it when I got it . The urikan has a crack and the place where the sampir meets the gambar has some damage. I'm not quite sure how to address this (perhaps a metal sleeve covering the area?). The hilt cup I suspect is brass, but kind of looks like it might be silver. I suspect this one may be the older of the two, but that's just a guess. The seller claimed it was over 100 years old and came from a collectors estate, but we all know how epray sellers are. I suspect the blade may be older than the rest, but this is again a guess.

The shorter one has a uniformly dark blade, but the ganja shows pamor. I understand this is fairly common for this type of keris. The blade length is right in the middle between anak alang and panjang, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and call it panjang. Due largely to it's long and slender shape, but fiance jokes that it looks like something a villain from the Japanese cartoon "Sailor Moon" would use.

Am I correct in thinking that these would both have come from one side of the other of the Riau strait, from an ethnically Malay population? Is there anyway to estimate the age of these?

Any other thoughts or comments?

Thanks,
Leif