bugis keris

[Gee1971]

Thanks Gustav,

The seller sold me for 390 euros, is it a correct price ?

[Rick]

Could we see some closer pictures of the blade, please (when you get it) ?
A close-up of the hilt would be nice too .

The dress is most unusual and is probably silver plated .
A tour de force of overlay work and repousse .

The price one pays for something is often a reflection of how much they desire it .

If it is Silver, all the better .

[David]

Originally Posted by Gee1971

Thanks Gustav,

The seller sold me for 390 euros, is it a correct price ?

Better photos, especially of the blade, would be helpful. Checking for the sliver content of the sheath (i also seriously doubt any platinum content) might account for some costs. Holding this keris in hand might reveal some signs of quality as yet unseen. But based only on what i can see and know at this point i am sorry that i suspect you paid waaaaaay too much for this keris.

[asomotif]

Platinum is almost as expensive as gold. So this can not be Platinum. (sorry )

If it is platinum, please give me the sellers name, and I will buy all his stock and stop working

It does not look like silver either. probably some nickel alloy.

But in the end, it is not the material that is important.
You must like the keris and be happy with it.
My favourite keris are dressed in wood with hardly any silver to it.

Best regards,
Willem

[Gee1971]

Well, I was attracted by the back with the inscriptions and I like the bugis scabbard style

i'll post pics when I'll receive it. Terima Kasih !!

[David]

Originally Posted by Gee1971

Well, I was attracted by the back with the inscriptions and I like the bugis scabbard style

The scabbard style looks Sumatran to me, but i am not sure i would refer to this as a Bugis style and the blade doesn't look Bugis to me either.

[Jean]

Hello Gaetan,
I saw this kris on a French Internet site and contacted the seller. I think that he did not mean that the sheath is made from or contains any platinum but that it is plated; he quoted vermeil (gold-plated silver) if I remember well, although there is no trace of gold as well.
The blade looks a rough Bugis one to me, see the kembang kacang carved out from the gandik especially.
From memory the seller said that the piece was originally purchased in the seventies and I am somewhat optimistic that the sheath is made from silver alloy, you will check upon receipt how it reacts to a silver cleaning cloth, if it remains dull then it is not silver.....
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Silver is very easy to test.

You simply buy a little bottle of silver test fluid from a jewelers supply house, it will cost a few dollars.

You scratch the surface of the metal clean in a spot where it won't be noticed and apply a drop of the fluid. If the metal turns red, you have silver. If the drop stays brown or yellow you have something else.

Beats agonising over whether something is silver or not.

Incidentally, silver has become horribly expensive during the past couple of years. It really pays to know whether something truly is silver, particularly something as big as this keris dress.

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

The blade looks a rough Bugis one to me, see the kembang kacang carved out from the gandik especially.

I noted this more as a Bugis influence than to see this as a true Bugis blade. This looks to have been made by a very unskilled smith who may have seen Bugis blades or was trying to make something like it from memory.