Kris identification, luk or not?
 

Who can help me with this kris?

I find it very interesting but do not know why.
Almost sold it once and withdrew it again.
It has been treated quite badly (that is why I wanted to sell it at first..)

It has a ganja iras.
Pamor looks like it might have been raja abela raja?

But the main question is are these luk or not?
Was it a straight kris that has been treated too badly or is this a kris with luk?

Any other ideas about age etc are welcome too of course!

Regards, Erik

Hello Eric, a picture from the complete blade will be helpful, but from what I can see I would call it a 1-luk keris. Pamor maybe ujung gunung or like you think raja abala raja, difficult to say without warangi.
My 2-cent opion.

We cannot have a one luk keris; lowest count must be three.

You begin the count on the first luk above the gandik and finish the count on the same side of the blade, thus lowest number of luk can only be three.

A full length pic would be of assistance, but from what I can see, this keris looks like dhapur campur bawur --- straight for most of its length, with just three luk close to the point.

I have to be ashamed, Mr. Maisey is correct. I only have to use my head to know that it is not possible to have a one luk blade. :o Sorry!

Alan is indeed right, 3 luks it is. Erik, i think you should seek out a source to restain this keris so it's pamor actually reveals itself. You might never sell it then! ;) :)

luk 3, can be in damar murub clasification ?,,,

im no expert.. but looks like bugis blade... maybe sumatra or sulawesi... because it have upside down V at sorsoran... garuda. I have same on my sulawesi bugis keris

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Xf_OlM8P4GA/SJ...nder_links.JPG Hope that the pic is clear enough..

I think my blade is Javanese, the dress is for sure and the blade has not the "strength" the bugis blades have.

But I do know what you mean: the onion or bawang subungkal I have seen on quite a few bugis blades.

The current condtion of the blade is not good enough for me to establish if it is this or the beginning of a different pamor like raja abela raja that has the same form at the base...

Very nice Bugis keris by the way!

Regards, Erik

Erik,

I think your blade is Javanese. Bawang Subungkal also appear on Javanese keris.

It is virtually impossible for me to give a supportable opinion in respect of origin of this blade from these photographs, and with the blade out of stain.

However, I will happily give an unsupported opinion of origin:- South Sumatra, Palembang.

Why?

Gonjo iras, pamor.

IMO alan is right... and with the knowledge of what you told me about that the blade is not "strong" or thick.. must be sumatra. As fast as me have been told bugis keris from sumatra and sulawesi have one big difrence.. in thicknes.. the sumatra is more flat.. and the sulawesi has got more body. And thks about my bugis! I think it is aswel :D

to henk.. is the upside down v called Bawang Subungkal??I have seen pamor like it called Raja Kam Kam...but its difrent to mine and i dont know if its from jawa. the pamor i hav eon bugis blade i never have seen it on a keris not from sulawesi or sumatra both bugis style.. can you show me some pics? thks in advance.

Well now you've done it Alan. You've provided an "unsupported opinion" and then gone on to support it with a reason! Is that allowed? :p :)
But seriously, i only ask because i have a Javanese keris that is gonjo with pamor, so i must ask, is it because of this specific pamor? Surely not all gonjo iras blades with pamor are from Palembang. :shrug:

Yeah, I know David---but I was feeling wild and reckless at the time.

I'd hardly call two little points of reference enough to support an opinion.

I've seen a few Palembang keris that look pretty much like this one, as always, to be relatively certain you need the thing in stain and in your hand, but when I've seen a number of Palembang keris like this, and never seen a Jawa keris like this, I do feel more or less confidant. Yeah, this pamor is not at all common in Jawa keris, gonjo iras is fairly common in palembang keris. To me it just looks Palembang. If we say "Jawa", then we've got ask "Jawa what?" and I reckon it would be pretty near impossible to put a logical Jawa tangguh on it.

Having said all of that, I'll now say that South Sumatra Jawa style blades are almost impossible to distinguish from asli Jawa blades.

Interesting discussion guys, thanks!