First post from new member...

[vogan]

Hello,
I sort of fell into Keris collecting several months ago. Browsing a well known auction site, I came across a Keris listing with a description that seemed at the time (and still does in retrospect), to have been written by a collector who cared about the history and aesthetics of the weapon. Mine was the only bid and I won the item for a modest sum. It arrived with a follow up email from the seller cautioning this novice not to slather the blade with WD-40, but to pick up some mineral oil, and in the meantime, I was referred to Frey’s small primer as a readily available resource to learn more about my new acquisition. The seller closed with a curious admonition not to “run amok” with my collecting enthusiasm. I suspect he spoke from experience, as I now understand, what I did not fully comprehend at the time, what he meant by that caution!

While I don’t possess the in-depth knowledge to posit the specific sort of question which would really draw upon the deep reservoirs of knowledge available at this site, and I don’t want to be seen as rehashing the obvious, but to a person whose acquaintance with the Keris is but several months old, the following tidbit nags at me, and I would appreciate a response from the veterans.

In a lot of collecting areas, the rule of thumb seems to be that restoration is best left to the experts. Having spent some time collecting coins, I know there are few things worse than “whizzing,” “dipping” or otherwise scrubbing away the effects of time. While looking at Keris listings on the internet, I see a lot of references to “old blade / new dress.” In some fields that would be unthinkable. In the collecting of books- about which I know a smidgen, I know how greatly one would depreciate a first edition of Dicken’s Nicholas Nickleby in the original 20 monthly periodical parts by ripping off the covers, tearing out the period advertisements, and binding the individual periodical sections into one “nice, newly dressed” leather volume. You’d have shunted the paper bound periodicals into a fancy new leather “dress,” but you’d have lost 85% of the value in so doing. But with the Keris, it seems to me- and I am speculating from an unlearned vantage point- that there is a cultural imperative to honor the blade by replacing the fittings when worn and/or- enhancing them when circumstances permit. Which leads me to ask, on a Keris which looks to me to be a genuine, if modest, artifact, should I hesitate before taking a bit of extra fine steel wool to a handle that looks a bit dull, with an eye to smoothing and refining the finish, and applying a touch of stain to restore depth and sheen? I really dislike dull, water-spotted, chipped and/or otherwise blemished wood. Particularly when the remedy seems as close at hand as the hardware store. However, I am open to the admonition not to touch it. The metal sheaths I’d prefer to leave untouched, finding the toning, as with coins, adds interest and color. Do experienced collectors swap out mendaks, for instance, if another comes up at auction that “just looks better“? If they have a Balinese Keris with a plain wood handle and a spectacular gold plated Bayu studded with semi-precious gems comes their way- does the plain Jane handle come off and go in a drawer? Or does one leave well enough alone when in possession of a Keris, the parts of which look tolerably harmonious or “right,” pretty much mating up in terms of wear, perceived age, and the Fashion appropriate to a particular period and locale? And as to the blades- the Keris I have acquired thus far- I intend to keep their blades well-protected from the depredations of time- with “Singer” oil, mineral oil, and a bit of sandalwood/ cananga scent, that said- does pamor diminish over time, despite periodic care? And given that there are no Keris cleaning ceremonies in the U.S that I have heard about, and given that I may not feel comfortable (or in a position to afford), shipping my beloved blades to Indonesia for a cleaning, am I doomed to watch the silvery patterns slowly fade to black over the next couple decades? And finally, having spent a rainy afternoon reading through that long post from 2001 regarding what constitutes a good Keris part two, I should like to thank , in no particular order: Vandoo, John, Rick, DAHenkel, Jan, Tom Anson, Wolfgang, Battara, Lee Jones, ruel, Adni Aljunied, and in particular, Empu Kumis, Naga Sasra and Wong Desa, - for a fascinating read, which I hope will be preserved for future readers and students of this forum.

[Rick]

Welcome aboard Vogan.
So many questions and many of them are pretty subjective.

I would think that if you wanted to do any thing more to a hilt than perhaps using a little 0000 steel wool on it the art of French polishing would be a good skill to have.

Switching out pendoks can be problematic sometimes because no two keris scabbards are exactly the same diameter and length; a pendok that fits one keris may have to be trimmed or altered in some way to fit another.

Swapping out handles and mendaks is fine provided that the hilt and mendak are reasonably in the same cultural area as the blade i.e. a Surakarta planar hilt would look kind of strange on a Bali blade and visa versa.

As for re-staining blades; one of our American members has been learning how to do this and makes his own warangan. I suppose that you yourself could also experiment with this process providing you can obtain a quantity of white arsenic trioxide or purchase it in mineral (realgar?) form from ebay.
With a little searching of the forums you will find threads on this subject.
Please remember when doing searches for keris info to look in all the forums as the Warung is a fairly new venture here and older threads on keris will be in the Ethno forum archives.

I hope you find your participation here a most rewarding experience.

Rick

[A. G. Maisey]

G`day Vogan.

As Rick has said, all of this is pretty subjective. It depends on so many factors. I'm not going to attempt to give any sort of comprehensive answer, but if we start by looking at the wood parts of a keris, a couple of drops of baby oil , an old toothbrush, and a good hard rub with the palm of your hand, will work wonders.

If you need to do a complete repolish, certainly, french polish is traditional, but it is also time consuming and requires a fair bit of skill. A better solution for an amateur is a commercial gun stock finish, such as the old Birchwood Casey stuff.Or even something like Danish Oil.

In the original cultural context, a fine blade should be accomodated in comparable dress, but a lot of western collectors have the western museum mind set, which is to hang on to old, dirty, damaged parts, because they are "original".If this suits the individual collector---fine. But he's in most cases only kidding himself if he thinks he has "original" dress. Depending on the age of the blade, it could have been changed several times during the life of each of the previous owners. All the new owner has is old dress, not necessarily original dress.If it was junk when it was made, it is still junk now---no matter how old it is.

In the long run, it mostly depends on what makes you happy:- if you want a room full of old keris in "as found" condition, and that makes you happy---go for it!

If you want to do a total restoration on everything you get your hands on, and that makes you happy, then do it. But just try to retain a little bit of integrity, stay away from the estapol. As for Araldite, well, its wonderful stuff, but in my opinion you should have to sit for an examination before you are granted a certificate that allows you to buy it.

With a metal pendok, a lot depends on what the metal is, and what technique has been used to decorate it. Sometimes just a quick rub with a brass polish cloth is all that's needed, sometimes you might have to strip it back to clean metal with a mild acid, then polish. There are probably 50 different ways to go at this, depending on what you want as a final result.

Yeah, blade stain will fade over time, but that is over a very long time for a blade that was stained correctly in the first place, and has been looked after well since. I have blades that I stained 20, 30, 40 years ago, that still look as if they were done yesterday.

Above all:- be sympathetic, and try in so far as possible to maintain cultural integrity; do not do anything that you cannot undo.

[David]

Originally Posted by vogan

If they have a Balinese Keris with a plain wood handle and a spectacular gold plated Bayu studded with semi-precious gems comes their way- does the plain Jane handle come off and go in a drawer? Or does one leave well enough alone when in possession of a Keris, the parts of which look tolerably harmonious or “right,” pretty much mating up in terms of wear, perceived age, and the Fashion appropriate to a particular period and locale?

Welcome Vogan!
I think you have been given some pretty good advice so far. One thing i would add is that while i have been know to swap out old worn out pieces such as mendaks and hilts, one should keep in mind that the quality of dress should be appropiate to the quality of the blade. So you probably wouldn't want to put an extravagant gold and bejewelled bayu hilt on and average or
or low grade Bali blade. Likewise, you probably wouldn't want to leave a fairly decent or high end blade in some modern tourist dress.

[vogan]

To Rick, I am glad to know that swapping out handles and mendaks is not a gross faux paux (within certain culturally sensitive parameters),- I have one Keris in particular where the mendak has a cheesy gilt appearance at odds with the rest of the ensemble, looking cheap and flashy in a tawdry sort of gum ball machine way. That is something I would like to change. As to “French Polishing,” a brief google search lead me to a site so detailed that I am afraid I might have to leave the “French polishing” to the odd museum conservator and those with more dedication and patience. This amateur is more inclined to go the route A.G. Maisey suggested and apply a standard of care commensurate with what I accord my firearms…. As what I’ve acquired thus far seem more in line with a sort of blue collar Keris, honest, unspectacular (relative to what’s out there) weapons for common individuals like myself. The caution against industrial strength adhesive and varnish is noted. I do possess one modern Keris, which looks like it belongs in a museum, and is handled and stored accordingly- but that is in a category by itself- and it arrived in pristine shape, so it is not in need of resuscitation. And one answer to a question to which I failed to find an answer, surprising to me given the amount of talk about cleaning ceremonies and the loss of a blade’s substance in the course of traditional cleaning, is the response that blades properly cared for will retain their pamor for decades, provided they were properly stained in the first place. I had been under the erroneous impression that pamor was somehow evanescent and fleeting and required arsenic baths every few years, and given a blade that was already worn to a wraith-like thinness as a result of traditional cleanings, was it really in the best interest of collector and blade to further reduce the mass in an effort to regain pamor. And as to David’s response- the gold Bayu hilt I lost out on so I am spared the temptation to jam one on top of an undistinguished blade and sheath….