Provenance and wood type of sampir keris

rahman · 6th January 2005, 02:21 AM

Thank you Mr Henkel for the explanation. Indeed, I have spent the last 2 months going through the past forums to get a fast-track on the keris world. The discussions have been most enlightening.

The squarish sampir presents a real challenge to identify its origin in these parts. I guess it takes an expert eye like yours to tell the subtle differences. I've seen sampirs with ridges at their top (mainly from the sumatra/Riau area) and others with no ridges (mainly from Sulawesi/Bugis). The Malay keris still eludes me, though, and I count you among the foremost experts here.

Thanks again.

rasdan · 6th January 2005, 07:49 AM

All this while i thought it is kemuning. But it is lighter than kemuning despite of the grains. Hope to hear from Dave soon about the type of wood.

Alam Shah · 30th June 2005, 03:52 PM

Rasdan,
Your sampir is Ketengga wood. I've seen bongor wood, the grain is not like yours. It is normally used for batang (as mentioned by Dave).

Bongor wood have a different type of "tiger stripes" pattern.
(Click the underlined Bongor for an example).

(Note: Bongor wood is the one we've seen at your place).

30th June 2005, 03:52 PM	#3
Alam Shah Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,248	Wood type... Rasdan, Your sampir is Ketengga wood. I've seen bongor wood, the grain is not like yours. It is normally used for batang (as mentioned by Dave). Bongor wood have a different type of "tiger stripes" pattern. (Click the underlined Bongor for an example). (Note: Bongor wood is the one we've seen at your place).

6th January 2005, 02:21 AM	#1
rahman Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 84	Thank you Mr Henkel for the explanation. Indeed, I have spent the last 2 months going through the past forums to get a fast-track on the keris world. The discussions have been most enlightening. The squarish sampir presents a real challenge to identify its origin in these parts. I guess it takes an expert eye like yours to tell the subtle differences. I've seen sampirs with ridges at their top (mainly from the sumatra/Riau area) and others with no ridges (mainly from Sulawesi/Bugis). The Malay keris still eludes me, though, and I count you among the foremost experts here. Thanks again.

6th January 2005, 07:49 AM	#2
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 369	All this while i thought it is kemuning. But it is lighter than kemuning despite of the grains. Hope to hear from Dave soon about the type of wood.