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Old 11th July 2006, 03:55 AM   #12
nechesh
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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Hi Okhba, welcome to the forum. When your father gets a chance i hope he might be able to make some clear, in focus and up close images of this keris. It appears nice, but i am not convinced it is of the age of 17th or 18th century. Keep in mind also that tangguh is an estimate and a classification. It could be problematic if we attempt to apply it to any specific dates. Sometimes blades fall into a particular tangguh, but weren't crafted until some time after the historical period of that kingdom. It is not necessarily correct to equate tangguh with the actual dating of a keris. Also, there is often an overlapping of influences in most keris. Experts judging tangguh often need to weigh whether a blade is more one tangguh than another when coming up with their assessment. Often experts will disagree. Sometimes even the same expert will give one tangguh at one time and a different one at another. I don't know enough about how to judge tangguh to know if that is the case with your father's keris. It does appear to be a nice keris though.
Have you seen this keris yourself firsthand. I ask because in the photos the kinatah looks very coppery. I wonder whether the color might be off on the photos, or if this might be gold with a very high copper level (rose gold?) or whether iot is gold at all. I suspect it has gold in it, but from the pictures i just can't tell. Better pictures would be helpful.

Last edited by nechesh; 11th July 2006 at 04:26 AM.
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