Repurposed Something or Another Knife?

[drac2k]

I recently acquired this knife that is a composite. The blade looks like it could have been a Kris at one time or another and it has traces of silver inlay.
It is attached to a basic wooden handle.
The blade measures 14" long.

[Battara]

Oh WW!

Must to have been heavily damaged from a wavy kris to be modified like this and originally silver inlaid.

[drac2k]

That it could have been a kris at one time is just a guess;I'm open to other/all suggestions.

[RobT]

Hi All,

On pg 127 of Ensiklopedi Keris, Harsrinuksmo shows a drawing of a very similar looking blade and lists it as "KERIS dapur Cengkrong. The illustration appears to show a ganja.

Sincerely,
RobT

[drac2k]

Any chance of getting a picture of the drawing?

[Interested Party]

Interesting piece! What script is this or is it something resembling an inscription? Am I right in that it says "Allah" 3 times?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by drac2k

Any chance of getting a picture of the drawing?

Hi David,

Here at first the pic. from page 127 and also another one from page 133.

On page 127 is shown the dapur Cengkrong, on page 133 the dapur Cundrik.

Regards,
Detlef

[RobT]

drac2k,

Sajen beat me to it I see and also added another that I was going to add myself. So it shouldn’t be a total loss, here is a serpentine version plus two pedang of interest. It would appear that this clip point shape is fairly popular in Indonesia.

Sincerely,
RobT

[drac2k]

Thanks so much Guys! I would also like to know what the inscription is.

[Ian]

Hi drac,

I like this knife but I think it would look better without the rather clunky hilt. The published examples have no hilt—just a bare tang—so we don't really know what type of hilt it may have had. It seems the blade is meant to be kept white (not etched), so a clean and polish might be in order. Also, restoring the silver inlay would enhance its appearance IMHO. Battara might be able to help with that. After all that, you could have a pretty valuable knife like the ones in the publications. Just my $0.02.

[RobT]

drac2k,

A photo of one of the serpentine keris cengkrong I posted shows it with a Surakarta style hilt and mendak. If you wish to rehilt your blade, perhaps Alan Maisey could weigh in to confirm that what you have is a keris rather than a pedang and also to recommend appropriate hilts/mendaks.

Sincerely,
RobT

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you RobT, for your prompt for me to comment on this implement under discussion.

I'm sorry, but although the overall form of this implement does imply some sort of influence from Javanese forms, I cannot recognise any elements of the workmanship involved and I really have no foundation upon which to make any relevant comment.

Again, my apologies for being unable to comment.

[drac2k]

Thank you all for your insightful comments.I think , based upon what I have heard here,is that at one time this was a nice Kris, however through time, misuse, or even it having been acquired by a different ethnicity, it has been heavily altered as evidenced by the missing ganja, the crude handle, etc..There may even have been some blade modification.
Without an illustration of an exact match, I think I would do more harm trying to restore it into something I want it to be as opposed to what it is.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, it might have been made from a repurposed blade, or it could also have been made from any piece of ferric material that was of adequate size to accommodate the design. I can see no evidence in the photos that might indicate that the material used is of laminated construction, so that in itself does limit possible sources.