Keris Djogya?

[Interested Party]

Thank you Mr. Maisey. I appreciate the feedback. I see the difference in the quality of the wood you posted. What are the features of the blade that you would regard as Madura? The pendok only has birds. Can a motif be alas alasan without elephants?

Finally what kind of person would have used this keris? What does it say about a person socially?

David, I do love deals. They are not abundant these days.

How long does it take for a stain to wear off through cleaning, oiling, and wear?

[A. G. Maisey]

There are a number of little things in this blade that i would accept in a lower quality Madura blade, but the principal thing that causes Madura to enter my mind is the angle of the gandhik, however, this could simply be because of the angle at which it was taken. For all practical purposes it is Jogja.

"Alas-alasan" means "like a forest" "alas" is "forest", so in an alas-alasan motif we expect to see the animals of the forest, not just birds, not necessarily elephants.

In the social scale it is an everyman's keris.

The photo is of a blade that was last stained some time before 1700, it entered the collection of a European museum before 1700. But if you stain a blade this morning & cut up tomatoes with it this afternoon, tomorrow most of the stain will be gone. How long a blade stain lasts depends entirely upon circumstances.