An Unfortunate Fate of a Good (?) Keris

rasdan · 26th January 2005, 04:22 AM

Hi all,

Just to share my keris. Last weekend, i went back to my hometown in Johore and was presented with this keris by my relative. Judging on the sheath, I think its a bugis keris . The sheath was originally wider but it was narrowed down

perhaps to facilitate wearing. Sheath wood unknown. Its black and even the grain inside is black. It is useless and needs replacement. To replace or not? Thats the question. The blade inside is teribly corroded. (I dont think its fake...hee..hee

) The metal looks like wood due to the corrosion.

What interests me is that the pamor is quite unique. One side is vertical pamor Raja Abala Raja with some Akhodiat and on the other mlumah pamor of unknown kind. Perhaps this is a Javaneese keris in a Bugis sheath, but the tang is original (not cut) and it is too short for a Javaneese keris. Overall blade length 12 1/2 inch. Do u guys think its worth keeping? Im really dissapointed in the corrosion.

Alam Shah · 26th January 2005, 04:30 AM

Sad..sad...very sad.

The blade looks like a good piece...
if you don't want it, i'll keep it for you. Or if you wish, sell it to me.

What I'll do is, i'll clean it, then framed in a wooden box with a glass case, just the blade, and hang it in my living room...

nechesh · 26th January 2005, 04:38 AM

Well Rasdan, just the fact that it was presented to you by a relative would me enough for me to consider this a keeper.

I would do my best to remove or at least halt the rust, re-dress it nicely, oil it and treat it with gentle loving care.

It would appear that this was once a very nice keris.
I suspect this is a Bugis blade as well.

rasdan · 26th January 2005, 08:19 AM

Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice and support. I dont think i can/will sell the pusaka.

It is an honour given to me to take care of it regardless of the condition. I think i'll give it a new dress and keep it in my room. Actually i was given quite a number of assorted weapons, mostly javaneese, but i left them in my in law's house in johore. I only take 6 back to KL. The blade conditons of these pusakas mostly are poor and their dresses are inappropriate. Its quite a headache too to figure out how I should restore them. But its worth it, i think.

Alam Shah · 26th January 2005, 09:00 AM

If you're around singapore, maybe you can drop by and we can chat.
Do you know about Malay Art Gallery. (Owner is one of our forumite Adni Aljunied.)

Maybe you can bring your piece there. I sure Adni can help.
BTW, the Upacara Suro, that I'm talking about will be held on the 12/02/05
and 13/02/05 at the Malay Heritage Centre, Singapore.

You can bring down your kerises to be cleansed, on the day.
There is a small token sum (fee) for each keris.
There will also be a lot of other activites throughout the 2 days.
For illustration, you can visit Paul's Keris Page...

rahman · 26th January 2005, 09:57 AM

This brings back memories ... I had to clean my late father's keris, with about 25 years of rust and neglect. Fortunately, there was little damage but it took me 3 days and 3 nights of careful cleaning.

Then there was an old Palembang piece .. also took a couple of days. At the end, you gain a sense of satisfaction when you look at the before and after pix.

See if you can repair the sheath. The sampir looks like kemuning. It may well be a Malay keris, but if it's Bugis it would be very old since the Bugis used to control Johor Lama.

mykeris · 26th January 2005, 10:35 AM

Very good keris pusaka. Worth keeping.

John · 26th January 2005, 11:01 AM

Rasdan, thanks for sharing a probable pusaka keris here. I know many others would not do so for the belief that the keris will lose it's "power" (takut isi-nya pandai hilang atau terbang?

) by showing off to the public. I know of someone who has a keris as well as it's sarong much more miserable looking than yours but has just left things as he has received them and reveres it more highly perhaps than I do with my favourite keris. I guess it's up to each individual in accordance with whatever dogma one believes in...

But I love forumites who enjoy sharing...

DAHenkel · 26th January 2005, 01:30 PM

Shame about the condition but it has a nice story and as it would not do much good to restore or re-dress it, its so far gone, I would recommend that you leave it be. Restoring or re-dressing it will not make it look nice anyway.

The piece is not Bugis per-se though. It is a native keris in a style typical of Johor-Riau and the Selat Melaka. The Bugis patrimony is there certainly, given the influence of the Bugis in this area - but it is definitely not from Sulawesi. No way to tell precisely where it came from but certainly from around these parts. The pamor is one of the rarer types and worth keeping as an example if nothing else.

Henk · 26th January 2005, 10:10 PM

I personally would take the effort to clean the blade and bring back the pamor again and re-dress this keris. It is a gift from a relative and in my opinion a very old blade. And it is not unusual to give an old blade a new dress because the old one is gone. I think this fellow deserves a new dress and it will be a handsome fellow if it is done properly.

nechesh · 26th January 2005, 10:46 PM

I agree with Henk here. It's not a matter ofwhether or not redressing makes the blade look better. I my mind it is about respect for the blade and your ancestors. IOf this blade is pusaka it should be treated as such.

rasdan · 27th January 2005, 09:28 AM

Hi guys,

Thank you very much for the views. I got no problem showing this pusaka here because for me, the best contribution an old keris can give nowdays is its contribution to knowledge; and sharing is the answer.

Of course theres still some restrictions, but surely a picture here wont hurt a thing.

I guess i just give this old chap a propper dress so that he (?) will feel appreciated. I'm sure it has been a long time since he last had a propper dress.

Btw prime, i'm in KL and sadly i cannot make it to singapore this year. I'll try my best cleaning it myself and... time to use my warangan

. Hope it will work.

Alam Shah · 27th January 2005, 12:30 PM

OK, take care...and happy warangan.
> I'll try my best cleaning it myself and... time to use my warangan

. Hope it will work.

BTW, May I ask, what do you use for your warangan? Let me know the result.

Henk · 27th January 2005, 07:36 PM

Rasdan,

We are very ancious to see the result. I hope you will share it with us. I'm very happy that you are going to give this pusaka the honor it deserves. A very old blade in a good dress, no matter that the dress is a new one, makes a pure and lovely keris.

Just like Nechesh said, it is to pay your respect to the keris.

26th January 2005, 04:22 AM	#1
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 368	An Unfortunate Fate of a Good (?) Keris Hi all, Just to share my keris. Last weekend, i went back to my hometown in Johore and was presented with this keris by my relative. Judging on the sheath, I think its a bugis keris . The sheath was originally wider but it was narrowed down perhaps to facilitate wearing. Sheath wood unknown. Its black and even the grain inside is black. It is useless and needs replacement. To replace or not? Thats the question. The blade inside is teribly corroded. (I dont think its fake...hee..hee ) The metal looks like wood due to the corrosion. What interests me is that the pamor is quite unique. One side is vertical pamor Raja Abala Raja with some Akhodiat and on the other mlumah pamor of unknown kind. Perhaps this is a Javaneese keris in a Bugis sheath, but the tang is original (not cut) and it is too short for a Javaneese keris. Overall blade length 12 1/2 inch. Do u guys think its worth keeping? Im really dissapointed in the corrosion. Attached Images

26th January 2005, 04:30 AM	#2
Alam Shah Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,248	Sad..sad...very sad. The blade looks like a good piece... if you don't want it, i'll keep it for you. Or if you wish, sell it to me. What I'll do is, i'll clean it, then framed in a wooden box with a glass case, just the blade, and hang it in my living room... Last edited by prime; 27th January 2005 at 01:51 AM.

26th January 2005, 04:38 AM	#3
nechesh Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 940	Well Rasdan, just the fact that it was presented to you by a relative would me enough for me to consider this a keeper. I would do my best to remove or at least halt the rust, re-dress it nicely, oil it and treat it with gentle loving care. It would appear that this was once a very nice keris. I suspect this is a Bugis blade as well.

26th January 2005, 08:19 AM	#4
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 368	Hi guys, Thanks for the advice and support. I dont think i can/will sell the pusaka. It is an honour given to me to take care of it regardless of the condition. I think i'll give it a new dress and keep it in my room. Actually i was given quite a number of assorted weapons, mostly javaneese, but i left them in my in law's house in johore. I only take 6 back to KL. The blade conditons of these pusakas mostly are poor and their dresses are inappropriate. Its quite a headache too to figure out how I should restore them. But its worth it, i think.

26th January 2005, 09:00 AM	#5
Alam Shah Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,248	If you're around singapore, maybe you can drop by and we can chat. Do you know about Malay Art Gallery. (Owner is one of our forumite Adni Aljunied.) Maybe you can bring your piece there. I sure Adni can help. BTW, the Upacara Suro, that I'm talking about will be held on the 12/02/05 and 13/02/05 at the Malay Heritage Centre, Singapore. You can bring down your kerises to be cleansed, on the day. There is a small token sum (fee) for each keris. There will also be a lot of other activites throughout the 2 days. For illustration, you can visit Paul's Keris Page...

26th January 2005, 09:57 AM	#6
rahman Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 84	This brings back memories ... I had to clean my late father's keris, with about 25 years of rust and neglect. Fortunately, there was little damage but it took me 3 days and 3 nights of careful cleaning. Then there was an old Palembang piece .. also took a couple of days. At the end, you gain a sense of satisfaction when you look at the before and after pix. See if you can repair the sheath. The sampir looks like kemuning. It may well be a Malay keris, but if it's Bugis it would be very old since the Bugis used to control Johor Lama.

26th January 2005, 10:35 AM	#7
mykeris Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 278	Very good keris pusaka. Worth keeping.

26th January 2005, 11:01 AM	#8
John Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Land below the wind Posts: 135	Rasdan, thanks for sharing a probable pusaka keris here. I know many others would not do so for the belief that the keris will lose it's "power" (takut isi-nya pandai hilang atau terbang? ) by showing off to the public. I know of someone who has a keris as well as it's sarong much more miserable looking than yours but has just left things as he has received them and reveres it more highly perhaps than I do with my favourite keris. I guess it's up to each individual in accordance with whatever dogma one believes in... But I love forumites who enjoy sharing...

26th January 2005, 01:30 PM	#9
DAHenkel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 125	Shame about the condition but it has a nice story and as it would not do much good to restore or re-dress it, its so far gone, I would recommend that you leave it be. Restoring or re-dressing it will not make it look nice anyway. The piece is not Bugis per-se though. It is a native keris in a style typical of Johor-Riau and the Selat Melaka. The Bugis patrimony is there certainly, given the influence of the Bugis in this area - but it is definitely not from Sulawesi. No way to tell precisely where it came from but certainly from around these parts. The pamor is one of the rarer types and worth keeping as an example if nothing else.

26th January 2005, 10:10 PM	#10
Henk Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,209	I personally would take the effort to clean the blade and bring back the pamor again and re-dress this keris. It is a gift from a relative and in my opinion a very old blade. And it is not unusual to give an old blade a new dress because the old one is gone. I think this fellow deserves a new dress and it will be a handsome fellow if it is done properly.

26th January 2005, 10:46 PM	#11
nechesh Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 940	I agree with Henk here. It's not a matter ofwhether or not redressing makes the blade look better. I my mind it is about respect for the blade and your ancestors. IOf this blade is pusaka it should be treated as such.

27th January 2005, 09:28 AM	#12
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 368	Hi guys, Thank you very much for the views. I got no problem showing this pusaka here because for me, the best contribution an old keris can give nowdays is its contribution to knowledge; and sharing is the answer. Of course theres still some restrictions, but surely a picture here wont hurt a thing. I guess i just give this old chap a propper dress so that he (?) will feel appreciated. I'm sure it has been a long time since he last had a propper dress. Btw prime, i'm in KL and sadly i cannot make it to singapore this year. I'll try my best cleaning it myself and... time to use my warangan . Hope it will work.

27th January 2005, 12:30 PM	#13
Alam Shah Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,248	OK, take care...and happy warangan. > I'll try my best cleaning it myself and... time to use my warangan . Hope it will work. BTW, May I ask, what do you use for your warangan? Let me know the result.

27th January 2005, 07:36 PM	#14
Henk Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,209	Rasdan, We are very ancious to see the result. I hope you will share it with us. I'm very happy that you are going to give this pusaka the honor it deserves. A very old blade in a good dress, no matter that the dress is a new one, makes a pure and lovely keris. Just like Nechesh said, it is to pay your respect to the keris.