A Keris for slashing...

[mrwizard]

Hello Gustav,

Originally Posted by Gustav

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Originally Posted by Gustav

The main problem is, when this piece between hilt and blade was added, the sides of gonjo and protruding parts of sorsoran were filed down to fit it with this joint-piece, so the blade is flat now.

I was referring to this sentence of your post. The keris blade is untouched. The joint-piece was made to fit the keris and not vice versa.

Best Regards,
Thilo

[Sajen]

I know what Gustav mean, the blade look in the sorsoran area very very weird so you can think that it is modified. I guess that it is a Peninsula blade so my hope is that Kai Wee see this thread and can tell us something about this blade.
When Thilo has opened the hilt it would be good when he post again some pictures to get a better view from the blade.

Regards,

Detlef

[asomotif]

Hello Thilo,

I can go a long way with your theory about modification for use in a western slashing style. If the original owner was stationed in Batavia I can imagine that he had it modificated there, explaining the handle.
I agree in keeping the piece in its present configuration considering its history.
Maybe indeed add a buntut and cleaning /oiling the blade.

I hope that maybe other forumites can comment on the blade ?
Are there any age indications for this blade ?

Best regards,
Willem

[Gustav]

Originally Posted by mrwizard

Hello Gustav,

I was referring to this sentence of your post. The keris blade is untouched. The joint-piece was made to fit the keris and not vice versa.

Best Regards,
Thilo

Thilo,

at some time the blade is most probably reworked, gonjo and parts of sorsoran being flattened.

And it would be much more difficult to fit such a joint piece to a gonjo with rounded sides then to one with flat sides, as this joint piece is going over gonjo.

This is, why I think, there would be some coincidence between these two facts. This is only an oppinion.

Best regards,
Gustav

[Gustav]

I am also interested in this kind of blades with multiple sogokan/srawejan/kruwingan. As I understand some of them are attributed to Sumbawa (post #19 and #49 in this thread:http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=kalawija), yet it probably is possible, such blades are occuring in central Sumatra or even Peninsula.

By the way, it seems there is a possibility this blade is having pamor.

The sheath is Peninsular.

[mrwizard]

Hello Gustav,

Thanks for the pointers to Sumbawa. I will look further into it tomorrow.

The keris has a pamor, but it is barely visible in its current state (certainly not on the pictures i took).

I think your impression that gonjo and sorsoran are flattened are due to my poor photographic skills. I will try to make better pictures as soon as i get that hilt off

Meanwhile i tried the good old pencil method.

Best Regards,
Thilo

[mrwizard]

Here are some updates.
After several heating sessions, i finally got the hilt off.
Sadly, the heating and twisting was too much for the wooden crosspiece. At least the split is very clean so it can easily be glued.

As can be seen on the smaller picture, the "javanese part" of the hilt is filled with terra-cotta. The pesi was wrapped with a composite of resin and some fibrous material (similar to hemp).

Best Regards,
Thilo

[David]

Originally Posted by mrwizard

Here are some updates.
After several heating sessions, i finally got the hilt off.
Sadly, the heating and twisting was too much for the wooden crosspiece.

I don't know Thilo, doesn't seem like such a sad thing to me. Now you can move forward towards a more "correct" dress for this blade. Frankly i wouldn't make use of the Javanese hilt that remains either since this clearly is not a Javanese blade. Some of our friends in Malaysia might be able to help here, but my guess is that this is a Peninsula blade. Perhaps you need a nice Jawa Demam hilt for this.
Also i've been meaning to add, and this is probably obvious to most, that while someone may have done damage to this blade while slashing with it, the keris is not a slashing weapon, so this was never intended to be a "keris for slashing"...

[mrwizard]

Hello David,

I already expected that someone would use this opportunity to push me again in the direction of dressing this keris properly

But there might be a problem doing this. The pesi of this keris is 113mm (4.4'') long. This might be the actual reason why the wooden piece was added in the first place. Finding a proper hilt (or a very large mendak) of this size might take a while...
Until then the keris will keep its silly and well worn dress

Of course, i'm well aware that a keris is not a slashing weapon. But the fittings and the weight of this keris almost encourage everyone who holds it in his hand to slash at something. And obviously someone did...
The title "a keris for slashing" was meant as a pun (slashing instead of sharing).

Best Regards,
Thilo