Is this a whale's tooth?
 

This is a Keris that I purchased from Ron over the holidays. Here is what I have been able to determine: the dress is Ladrang form, wooden Sarong with a plain brass Pendok. The Mendak is also brass and lightly decorated, the Wilah is 13 Dapor Lok with an interesting Pamor. The Ukiran is a mystery. Is it a whale's tooth? I've compared it side by side with two other knives that have stag horn handles and I am not convinced this is stag horn. Anyone know? TIA for any help!

BTW... If you've not bought from Ron you have missed the best buyer experience ever. :)

Happy New Year!
Harry

Ivory?

It looks like bone to me, but photos can be deceptive. :shrug:

Maybe. Here is what professor Google says:

Thirty teeth of the sperm whale can be used for ivory. Each of these teeth, up to 8" long and 3" across, are hollow for the first half of their length. Sperm whale ivory is easily confused with walrus ivory, as both have two distinct layers. The inner layer of sperm whale ivory, however, is much larger.

I don't think it is bone, but I could be mistaken.

Bone.
Let's see the end of the handle.
The dentine of Walrus is very different from Sperm Whale dentine.

MY BEST GUESS FROM THE PICTURES IS BONE OR ANTLER. SPERM WHALE TEETH DON'T HAVE PORES AND ARE USUALLY OF A UNIFORM SMOOTHNESS AND COLOR. KERIS HANDLES ARE OFTEN MADE FROM ANTLER OR BONE THOUGH IVORY IS SOMETIMES USED, MOST I HAVE SEEN AND COULD IDENTIFY WERE ELEPHANT IVORY. NICE REGARDLESS AND THESE DAYS ITS BETTER NOT TO RUN A-FOUL OF THE FOUL IVORY LAWS THAT BAN EVERYTHING REGARDLESS OF AGE AND ORIGIN.

Bone or de-natured antler. Not whales tooth.

Hopefully this is good enough for a positive ID. The lighting in my home office is not very good. Thanks for the help!

If bone I'd expect to see a porous end on this handle. Of course these handles are sometimes capped with an insert, but I can't make one out. :confused:

Thank you for trying. I can't identify it either. The size and shape made me think it might be a tooth. Keep in mind that I would not know one if it bit me! I have only been collecting a couple of years and am reasonably certain I have never held a piece of ivory before. I won't rule bone out. It looks worn down and seems old. Any suggestions for an age? Thanks again for the help!

Happy new year!
Harry

Tooth of just about any animal does not have the type of striations that this has. These striations belong to bone. Some bone chosen does not have ends that are not so porous, depending upon the cut of bone.

Besides, whale tooth is grayer in color with layers.

My vote: bone (or less likely antler).

Many thanks to yourself, Vandoo, Rick and others. I will put this one down as bone. I appreciate the help, and am fine with it being bone. I like this one. The hilt is worn enough that it feels incredibly smooth. I am guessing it has some age. Do you think I would be way off to think it is early 20h?

Bone, 100%
 

My vote is bone, absolutely not tooth, antler, elephant or marine ivory.

Bone, 100%
 

The striations, small parallel lines visible all over the hilt, are the "scars" of the blood vessels when the bone was alive, part of a living creature.
In my opinion, this is the most important and reliable criterion to classify this material as bone.

I would like to see the peksi hole (decaying/ pitting or not?) before giving a more definite opinion but would guess for either tanduk rusa (deer antller) or whale bone (not tooth). The origin of the piece is probably East Java and from the patina its age may be about 100 years indeed.
Regards

Hello Harry,

Congrats, this is IMVHO a nice keris!


It is regular bone (probably water buffalo) - the (not shown) base of the upper side shows the exposed porous inner side. ;)

Whale bone tends to be more porous, polishing less smoothly, and less resistant to wear.

Stag tends to be more homogenous if selected and worked well.


Well polished bone can be very smooth to begin with; this is obviously well worn, too.

We don't know how long this keris has been out of regular use within the culture (and retired into a collection) which makes judging the age of any part based on wear unreliable. Given this disclaimer, I would not be surprised if this hilt were from the 19th century. First quarter of the 20th c. may be a good conservative estimate though.

Regards,
Kai

Hello Harry,

The scabbard crafted from a single piece of wood is something that should be especially mentioned!


I certainly can recommend him, too!

Regards,
Kai

elephant bone ? :)

I think it is whale bone. At least I vaguely remember Ron mentioning that. It does not look like any bone I have ever seen before. That it was a tooth was wishful thinking on my part. I am always looking for the Holy Grail :)

Many thanks to everyone for the comments, suggestions, etc. It helps a lot.

Harry

Hi Jean,
I am afraid you lost me at peksi hole! What is that?

Hello Kai,
Many thanks for your help with the hilt. I think you are right about it being bone. Thanks also for pointing out the "single piece" scabbard. I had not noticed that. Happy new year!

Refers to the hole in the handle that the tang (peksi) of the keris fits into.

In the Javanese language, the word "peksi" means "bird", it is krama (ie, high level Javanese) for "bird", the ngoko (low level, common level) equivalent is "manuk".

The word "pesi" is the correct word to use for a keris tang, or other stick tang, in some applications it can also mean a "pin".

The confusion between these two words is understandable, because the "k" in "peksi" is a glottal stop, which goes virtually unheard, especially by a non-native speaker of Javanese.

Peksi hole
 

The peksi hole. Thanks again for the help!

Hello Harry,

look like antler or indeed whalebone on your last picture, I would sort out other bone. It's sometimes very difficult to determine the exact origin of the used material, even elephant ivory can become very difficult when it's very worn.
And it's very awkward to get a decision without handling the material. So it's my best guess.

Regards,
Detlef

Hello Detlef,

I'm afraid I don't see any notable hints for it being made from stag nor whalebone. Still looks like "generic" bone from a terrestrial mammal to me...


Agreed - just my 2 cents as well.

Regards,
Kai

since you bought it from Ron, why don't we ask our good friend Ron for his opinion too? (He must be lurking here sometimes too I guess :)

And you're right, Ron is a great seller... in fact I've been considering to buy this keris too but you beat me to it. Congrats .I like the hilt. doesn't matter if it's made from bone or other wise. it still is a v handsome hilt to my eyes.

Gentleman, while i am sure that our good friend Ron appreciates all of your compliments i would like to remind you that we do indeed have many regular keris dealers in our ranks and it is probably best not to to single out any one for endorsement over any other in the context of these pages. It could become awkward. And let's keep in mind the non-commercial nature of these forums if we can please. ;) :)

Hello Kai,
I just miss the porouness this material normally have. But like said, it's difficult to get a desicion without handling it.

Regards,
Detlef

Actually I did ask Ron, and if my memory still serves he thought it was whale bone. Don't quote me on that though. I was looking at four beautiful Keris laid out on my dining room table and was probably in shock. :) it really makes no difference to me what the hilt is. It was a good purchase and is one of my favorites now. I would buy it again in a heartbeat!