My first old keris pedang

[kai]

Originally Posted by David

Also, the last photo in his first post actually shows the blade cleaned and restrained.

Yup, saw that but was aiming for details not visible in the close-up in uncleaned condition posted initially...

[kai]

Thanks for the additional close-ups, Anthony!

As expected, age of the blade is tough to nail down: I don't see obvious signs of later work; there appears to be only little wear or loss though.

If it came out Indonesia recently, I might be inclined to vote for early 20th century. From Europe or the US without reliable earlier provenance it still might have been imported from Indonesia somewhat recently!

In case of an established provenance from a colonial collection, a 19th c. origin seems reasonable. Even in the absence of provenance, I might lean more to such a slightly earlier date...

Tough call - it certainly would be preferable to examine it (and the scabbard) personally to form a more reliable guess.

Regards,
Kai

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by kai

Thanks for the additional close-ups, Anthony!

As expected, age of the blade is tough to nail down: I don't see obvious signs of later work; there appears to be only little wear or loss though.

If it came out Indonesia recently, I might be inclined to vote for early 20th century. From Europe or the US without reliable earlier provenance it still might have been imported from Indonesia somewhat recently!

In case of an established provenance from a colonial collection, a 19th c. origin seems reasonable. Even in the absence of provenance, I might lean more to such a slightly earlier date...

Tough call - it certainly would be preferable to examine it (and the scabbard) personally to form a more reliable guess.

Regards,
Kai

Indeed. And I was told this keris pedang was bought from the actual owner from Indonesia.