A Balinese (?)keris for identification please

[A. G. Maisey]

Sid, I will not say that you are incorrect, nor that your intentions might not come to pass, but I will pass on a little bit of personal history.

My interest in keris began at a very young age, I was about 5 or 6 years old when I used to visit my mother's aunt together with my mother & grandmother. My mother's aunt's son had married a Malay lady and was living in Malaya -- as it then was --- he sent small gifts to his mother, one of which was a keris. I really, really wanted that keris.

I never got it, but I did get a collection of edged weapons, including keris, that my grandfather gave me at age 12.

By about age 30 I had an accumulation --- I hesitate to call it a collection --- of keris and keris related parts that numbered around 3000 items. I was pretty ignorant back then and I had the objective of owning every keris I encountered --- maybe every keris that ever was.

By about age 40 I had begun to gain a little bit of knowledge & my accumulation had turned into a collection of around 40 reasonably OK keris, all the other keris & keris related bits & pieces had been put through Sydney auctions.

From that point until now the size of my collection has increased and decreased depending mostly upon the need to get rid of some things in order to acquire other things.

Currently and for a few years past I have been decreasing my collection so that when Siwa pulls my number out of the hat my kids will not have to get rid of objects about which they know nothing.

Now, I do have quite a few very fine quality keris that contain ivory, and something more than 200 ivory hilts a few of which are exceptional. The only avenue open to me for sale of these ivory items is local small auction houses, I cannot send any of these ivory pieces out of Australia.

This is not an ideal situation.

Do you intend to live forever, or like a very good friend of mine who moved into the Hidden World a few years ago, when he was asked what would happen to his collection when he moved on, he replied that he intended to take it with him.

That, of course, did not happen; his heirs put it all to auction where it did not achieve the prices that it could have achieved if he had offered it for sale when he was still here.

[SidJ]

True but at least he enjoyed them till the end and did not face dissolving his collection himself. It matters nought to him that the price achieved was lower. He had gone by then and his kids still got a windfall of sorts. Clearly he was attached to his stuff and to him it was worth holding on to. But yes it would have made more financial sense to sell and give his kids more of a windfall. Each to their own but I have warned my kids I will haunt them if they sell my stuff off! I am joking of course. But only a little.

[A. G. Maisey]

Depends on perspective Sid.

The gentleman I mentioned had no children, I often felt that his collection was a substitute for children.

On the other hand I do have children, thus I have responsibility that never ends and continues even after I have moved on.

I would like to think I leave a relatively tidy work bench.

[Gustav]

Interesting to see a Bali style Keris with defined Blumbangan but without Kruwingan and Tikel Alis. An unusually plain appearance.

SidJ, is there a possibiity to post a good picture of the base of blade with Gandhik on the left? Thank you very much!

And, is the blade alone indeed 44 cm long?

[SidJ]

Gustav see pic

[Gustav]

Thank you!