Condition- What is acceptable???

[Tim Simmons]

I would agree with most of what has been said. I am a bit fussy when it comes to the item having a scabbard or not. It has to be very distinctive in form for me to accept no scabbard .

I am really sorry but I am going to head off on a tangent but I am sure you will understand.

Alan62 could you please post a close up of that handle.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

I would agree with most of what has been said. I am a bit fussy when it comes to the item having a scabbard or not. It has to be very distinctive in form for me to accept no scabbard .

Tim,

To me, this very much depends on the item. I would not buy a Javanese, Balinese or peninsular keris without a scabbard. I think these go together since I consider them mostly as talismans and not primary battle weapons.

While I would like for everything, that ever had a scabbard to have one, I am ok with buying Moro kris without. I believe that since Moro kris were active battle weapons, often the scabbards were dropped when the fighting began and they never rejoined the blades.

[Lew]

[QUOTE=Bill Marsh]Tim,

To me, this very much depends on the item. I would not buy a Javanese, Balinese or peninsular keris without a scabbard. I think these go together since I consider them mostly as talismans and not primary battle weapons.

Bill

I would consider buying a keris without the scabbard granted the price is right. I'm more interested in the form of the forged blade and have picked up a few very nice truly old pieces for only a few dollars. Furniture on these keris blades are usually later add ons and not original to the blade plus I feel the spirit is in the steel blade and not the furniture. As far as condition goes I try to buy pieces that do not have too much damage to the blade and hilt rust is not a big problem for me as long as it has not eaten away the blade.


Lew

[Bill M]

I agree, Lew that the furniture or dress is not usually original to the dress. It can be changed several times during the lifetime of each owner. But iI have a problem getting good dress. If I make it myself, it will look like I did!

And somehow a naked Javanese keris laying in my case just looks wrong. The hilts are availiable, but the scabbards are hard to find.

Perhaps one day my woodworking skills will improve, or I'll get a contact who can make good dress.

But I would certainly not turn down a good blade because it had no dress, I would just prefer that it did.

I also agree with you that the blade is the most important part of any kris/kris.

[tom hyle]

Bends and twists to blades, which are as often caused during hardening as later during use or abuse, are traditionally of no note/existence on the antique market unless very extreme indeed. This used to frustrate me greatly, as my interest in swords was initially a purely martial arts/practical use one. Likewise, with a partial exception for Japanese swords, quality of temper is of no interest to the antique market.
Damage should be disclosed, but can vary greatly in detail; you can always ask for clarification of, say "rusty but solid"
Slight wiggle to a hilt can often pass un-noted (especially by nonexperts) as a similarly unimportant/expected detail; if there were no explicit claims of tight and sound or whatever, there's not much to say there.
Keep in mind that on ebay for instance, you are buying from persons often without expertise or INTEREST in the item or its field, so the line of ignorance vs. negligence is much harder to draw than with a dealer.
As for what I find acceptable conditionwise, I prefer that at least one other collector somewhere would consider an item "ruined, just ruined" before I buy it