ID of a Balinese keris

[Anthony G.]

Some said it is 18th century but I beg to diff. as the condition for a Balinese keris in this state is too good to be from 18th century. I suppose it is late 19th-20th century made Balinese keris.

Dear fine collectors, what say you?

[David]

Well Anthony, if one can be called "some", then yeah, but i think you are more on track with your dating, though i am inclined to place it firmly in the 19th century.
Does the hilt not slide down any further on the pesi? It looks a bit strange with that space between the uwer and the hilt. The uwer is clearly newer (rhyme unintentional ). From what i can see in the photos this is a fairly well-formed and classic Bali keris. I might be inclined to find a classier piece of jewelry for it if it was mine.
You don't show much of the sheath. What type is it and what kind of shape is it in?

[A. G. Maisey]

Based upon what I can see, I'd incline towards 19th century, however, if it has been in a cupboard in Amsterdam for a couple of hundred years it could easily look exactly like this.

Frankly, I've just about given up trying to date keris from photos, it is a pure guess, based upon what I think is most likely.

If I had it in my hand I probably couldn't do any better.

Provenance is really the only good guide.

In any case, whatever age it is, it deserves bit better wewer than that plastic one.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Based upon what I can see, I'd incline towards 19th century, however, if it has been in a cupboard in Amsterdam for a couple of hundred years it could easily look exactly like this.

Frankly, I've just about given up trying to date keris from photos, it is a pure guess, based upon what I think is most likely.

If I had it in my hand I probably couldn't do any better.

Provenance is really the only good guide.

In any case, whatever age it is, it deserves bit better wewer than that plastic one.

Hi Alan

Greeting. Very true on the part of wewer.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by David

Well Anthony, if one can be called "some", then yeah, but i think you are more on track with your dating, though i am inclined to place it firmly in the 19th century.
Does the hilt not slide down any further on the pesi? It looks a bit strange with that space between the uwer and the hilt. The uwer is clearly newer (rhyme unintentional ). From what i can see in the photos this is a fairly well-formed and classic Bali keris. I might be inclined to find a classier piece of jewelry for it if it was mine.
You don't show much of the sheath. What type is it and what kind of shape is it in?

Hi

The hulu cannot be push down further, it has reaches the top. I guess I will source a new Hulu to replace the existing piece. The blade is awesome, smooth and strong. Simply loving it.

[David]

Originally Posted by Anthony G.

The hulu cannot be push down further, it has reaches the top. I guess I will source a new Hulu to replace the existing piece. The blade is awesome, smooth and strong. Simply loving it.

Anthony. That probably won't be necessary, unless this keris has an extra long pesi for some reason. The pesi hole may have some material jammed up inside it. I would remove the hilt and take a screw driver or something hard and metal that you can get on up there with and see if you cannot open up some more space inside. If not you could carefully drill the hole a little deeper. After all, it looks like we are only talking about a quarter to a half inch at most. It's a fair looking cekah solas hilt and i see no reason to change it if you don't have to or really want to.
The sheath is indeed nothing to write home about, though you did choose to show us the back side of it rather than the front. I would be more inclined to change that rather than the hilt, though new sheaths are harder and more expensive to come by.

[A. G. Maisey]

David is correct Anthony, the hilt only needs to be correctly fitted, we need to do that very often.

The best tool to remove old cloth, or hair is perhaps a cork screw. Once any garbage has been removed if the hole still needs to be deepened a sharpened screw driver is good, or a chisel. If the hole is too tight, rather than too deep, do not make the mistake of taking an electric drill to it, you can finish up with a hilt broken into several pieces, clamp a drill bit horizontally into a bench vice and using it like an auger to gradually increase the diameter of the hole is probably the safest approach. You start with a drill bit that is close to the size of the existing hole and work up a step at a time to bigger bits. You twist the hilt onto the bit.

Knitting wool is probably the best medium to bind a tang with.


Make sure that the tang is not too long for the hilt by measuring it against the hilt, and also make sure that the hole does not go off at an angle and exit through the side of the hilt.

[Rafngard]

In terms of getting fabric/string/cord, etc out of the bottom of the hole in an ukiran, I've had good luck with a pair of nail scissors of the sort in the attached picture.

Have fun,
Leif

[Rick]

A dental pick works wonders .

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah, I've used those too Rick.

Actually old discarded dental tools can be very useful in many ways. The ones with a slightly broad blade can be sharpened to act as mini chisels that can be extremely useful in fine restoration work.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

David is correct Anthony, the hilt only needs to be correctly fitted, we need to do that very often.

The best tool to remove old cloth, or hair is perhaps a cork screw. Once any garbage has been removed if the hole still needs to be deepened a sharpened screw driver is good, or a chisel. If the hole is too tight, rather than too deep, do not make the mistake of taking an electric drill to it, you can finish up with a hilt broken into several pieces, clamp a drill bit horizontally into a bench vice and using it like an auger to gradually increase the diameter of the hole is probably the safest approach. You start with a drill bit that is close to the size of the existing hole and work up a step at a time to bigger bits. You twist the hilt onto the bit.

Knitting wool is probably the best medium to bind a tang with.


Make sure that the tang is not too long for the hilt by measuring it against the hilt, and also make sure that the hole does not go off at an angle and exit through the side of the hilt.

Thanks for the guide

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by David

Anthony. That probably won't be necessary, unless this keris has an extra long pesi for some reason. The pesi hole may have some material jammed up inside it. I would remove the hilt and take a screw driver or something hard and metal that you can get on up there with and see if you cannot open up some more space inside. If not you could carefully drill the hole a little deeper. After all, it looks like we are only talking about a quarter to a half inch at most. It's a fair looking cekah solas hilt and i see no reason to change it if you don't have to or really want to.
The sheath is indeed nothing cowrite home about, though you did choose to show us the back side of it rather than the front. I would be more inclined to change that rather than the hilt, though new sheaths are harder and more expensive to come by.

Thanks for the info, I will check.