opinions on my kerises
 

Hi all,
I was given 24 kerises by a good friend who had been collecting weapons for about 40 years.Unfortunately we did'nt have a chance to get into detail about them,He just told me that some of them are of a high quality and there are some very old ones.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Re Pics
 

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Looking forward to pix . :D

Welcome !

On the first day of Kerismas.....
 

Welcome Casey. We look forward to seeing your collection. Anyone who would give 24 keris to you, especially if any are high quality or old, must be a very good friend indeed. It appears you will be having a very merry Kerismas. :D

Here is a clearer rendition of the first picture above:

Hi Casey, you have a mix of quality and styles here. I find the 3rd image of the Bali keris to perhaps be the best blade among them, but that's pretty subjective. Most of your pieces could use some restortation of some sort if you are into doing that with your collection.
The keris singo (lion) looks like it might be interesting. It's hard to judge with your photos because they appear to be on the point of pixelating, making it difficult to make out detail. It would also be nice to see the entire blade of your keris as one can not get a feel for the flow of the design in the entire blade. This is an essential part to the overall appreciation and assessment of a good keris.
Your friend has started you off witrh quite an interesting collection. Few of us ever got such a nice opening opportunity. Congrats! I look forward to seeing more of your new found passion. You're hooked now. ;)
Is there some reason why you friend sudden gave you these. Has he given up collecting. :eek:

Nechesh is right. A very mixed collection. But a very nice start to begin with.

1. Keris solo, Java, Pamor bulut ayam.
2. This is a maduran keris. The first tourist keris for the dutch soldiers who came home during and after the war. I use to call this a KNIL keris. Koninklijk (Royal) Nederlands (Dutch) Indisch (Indonesian) Leger (Army). The keris itself is a real and good keris. The dress however was made of a cheap piece of wood and carved quickly. You see them still regularly.
3. Nice bali keris with a pendok on the back side. Would be nice to see a picture of it. The mendak is missing.
4. A real balinese tourist keris.
5. Balinese tombak. In my opinion for tourists.
6. Jogya keris, Java. Keris singa. The sitting lion. I think a very nice one.
7. Balinese keris with a walikat sandang scabbard. Very nice. Here too is the mendak missing.
8. Bugis keris. And a good one. Please turn the ukiran (the grip) 90 degrees to the other side.
9. Keris madura. The inlay under the pendok is turtle shell. This ukiran should be turned too 90 degrees.
10. Keris solo, Java.

You have a couple of nice keris. Some care is necesarry but it was a gift. I would be happy too when my friend came with a box with 24 kerisses. :cool:

Hmmm... pamor is not my forte, but I don't think the pamor on the Solo keris is bulu ayam. Maybe more like "floating water weed" or something.

Hi,

I think Blu is correct, the pamor is 'gaggeng kanyut'.

the no. 8 piece is Peninsular Malay - likely Terengganu. A good serviceable example.

The hilt should face the same direction as the one pictured in my avatar.

well its absolutely not a " bulu ayam ",.......

i think blu is right , it's ganggeng ganyut ,

or could be another pamor ....... can i see some more picture of this keris ???

I hope these pics are a bit better.Would love all opinions I can get I'm enjoying this site very much and learning slowly.I hope to oneday actually be confident with my own opinions. Thanks. Case

Hi Casey. The first 3 look like fairly nice new keris, late 20th century. The last 3 are older. #4, the Bugis keris looks like a fairly nice one that could use a good restaining to really raise the pamor pattern. The 23 luk (#6) keris is pretty unusual, anything truly old with that many curves would be. Turn the handle around so it faces like the others. #5 looks like it could be pamor Adeg of some sort, again in need of restaining. #2 and #3 have nice modern examples of rare Jawa hilt forms.
I know you are anxious to find out about these blades you've been gifted, but it might be less confusing if you presented fewer at a time. One ot two would be ideal so people can really focus on what you are presenting and give you more indepth descriptions and analysis. :)

Hey, nice jawa demam on the riau keris. The 'lattice'-work on the buah pinang (the 'ball' on which the figure sits) is a less common feature, and in this case, quite nicely carved. The jawa demam also has a more 'alive and fleshy' feel to it. The tilt of the head is graceful, a little minus point is that his garuda mungkur (the pointed trangular feature at the top of the hilt) is a bit broken at the tip.

Sorry Nechesh I'm like a kid in a candy store.Here are two that I like for no particular reason they just appeal to me.I will start with them and won't bambard you all with pics.Thanks for your reply and also BlueErf.I think you are commenting on #4 and #5 is that right ? Sorry for my ignorance,total novice but I want to make sure that I can place what you are taking the time out to tell me Thanks Case

No problem Casey, i understand your enthusiasm. You've been stradled with a heavy burden here, If only i could be so cursed. ;)
Again you have present one new keris and one old. The first one is a modern 3 luk keris singo (lion) in Yogyakarta gayaman (everyday) dress. The second is older (19thC ?) in Surakarta Ladrang (formal) dress. I'd like to see this one restained because the pamor looks like it may be interesting. Almost looks like writing (Islamic) on the blade, which is certainly not beyond possibilities. :)

Good spotting Nechesh I didnt know if the writing would be noticeable from the pics.I am not game enough to try and clean the blades yet need to learn more about them and be cleer on the correct techniques.Is writing on the blade unusual? thanks Case

Well, i've seen a lot of it on blades made for tourist trade, but this blade does not appear to be one of those to me, in which case i will say that i do find it somewhat uncommon. Does the writing appear to be made of pamor material or perhaps silver?

Hard to say Nechesh it does seem a little different to normal pamor but I wouldn,t call it either way it needs to be cleaned to get a better idea.I have been reading some other threads and would like to know if soaking these blades in vinager would be a good start? Any suggestions.

I would use a good fruit acid. Personally i have used pineapple juice. Wash the blade thoughly with distilled water and a gentle dish detergent to remove dirt and oils. A tooth brush comes in real handy for scrubbing. You may need to soak it for a few days to remove any rust, brushing it down a couple of times a day. Depends how much rust there is. Here's a good thread on the subject:
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000717.html
It late here in the States so we can pick this up later if you respond. :)

Look forward to it Nechesh Iwill check out the thread and possibly get to work on them. Case

Nechesh is right about the writing on this keris. It is not uncommon. I only doubt, but it is hard to see on these pictures if it is Islamatic writing. It also could be writng in the old Indonesian language. I cann't remember the name for that language anymore. You can also clean the blade with lime juice. Maybe you can find somebody who can bring up the pamor for you again with arsenic to restore the blade completely.

well , that's absolutely arabic....

after you clean it and put it in arsenicum ,

those letter will show up clearly ,like the one i got ( pic attached )

Sang keris,
Yours is arab writing, but Casey's one could be the old Indonesian writing. He should stick it in the arsenic as well. I do own a keris with writing in that old Indonesian writing and Casey's pictures are not clear enough to tell that with 100% certainty.

well henk, could be....

u mean old javanese ?