My first old keris pedang

[Anthony G.]

I just got this keris pedang from Lombok. Which century do you think it might belongs to? 19th or 20th?

It was sold by someone whose family owned this keris. The Pesi is the standard circular type, not square. Photo includes old, pre-warangan and after warangan.

[kai]

Hello Anthony,

Age may be tough to pin down - close-ups after warangan might help.

Quality of the blade looks promising and the scabbard seems to be from nice wood with good patina. Have you cleaned it yet?

The pesi of these usually is round.

Regards,
Kai

[jagabuwana]

I like this, Anthony. Thanks for sharing.
I have nothing to offer regarding your question of age, but noticed the feature of one of the sogokan extending into a straight groove which ends nearly halfway up the blade. I've not seen this before - is it a common ricikan? I wonder if it was added at a later time.

[Gustav]

Yes, a common Ricikan for this kind of blade.

[jagabuwana]

Thank you, Gustav.

[kai]

Hello Novan,

the feature of one of the sogokan extending into a straight groove which ends nearly halfway up the blade.

It does look a bit like an afterthought in this example - a single extended sogokan is a traditional feature as mentioned by Gustav already.

Actually, it would be expected to end at (or near) the tip of the associated kruwingan.

Regards,
Kai

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Anthony,

Age may be tough to pin down - close-ups after warangan might help.

Quality of the blade looks promising and the scabbard seems to be from nice wood with good patina. Have you cleaned it yet?

The pesi of these usually is round.

Regards,
Kai

I can only captured this close-up for this part of the keris as it is long in term of bilah length.

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

The pesi of these usually is round.

Take a closer look. The pesi on this blade IS round. Also, the last photo in his first post actually shows the blade cleaned and restrained.

A nice one Anthony. Congratulation. I would like to add one of these to my collection someday as well. As Kai says, pinpointing this between 19th or 20th century would be pretty difficult. I don't believe you will find much difference in the style or ricikan of these keris pedang between late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[kai]

Originally Posted by David

Also, the last photo in his first post actually shows the blade cleaned and restrained.

Yup, saw that but was aiming for details not visible in the close-up in uncleaned condition posted initially...

[kai]

Thanks for the additional close-ups, Anthony!

As expected, age of the blade is tough to nail down: I don't see obvious signs of later work; there appears to be only little wear or loss though.

If it came out Indonesia recently, I might be inclined to vote for early 20th century. From Europe or the US without reliable earlier provenance it still might have been imported from Indonesia somewhat recently!

In case of an established provenance from a colonial collection, a 19th c. origin seems reasonable. Even in the absence of provenance, I might lean more to such a slightly earlier date...

Tough call - it certainly would be preferable to examine it (and the scabbard) personally to form a more reliable guess.

Regards,
Kai

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by kai

Thanks for the additional close-ups, Anthony!

As expected, age of the blade is tough to nail down: I don't see obvious signs of later work; there appears to be only little wear or loss though.

If it came out Indonesia recently, I might be inclined to vote for early 20th century. From Europe or the US without reliable earlier provenance it still might have been imported from Indonesia somewhat recently!

In case of an established provenance from a colonial collection, a 19th c. origin seems reasonable. Even in the absence of provenance, I might lean more to such a slightly earlier date...

Tough call - it certainly would be preferable to examine it (and the scabbard) personally to form a more reliable guess.

Regards,
Kai

Indeed. And I was told this keris pedang was bought from the actual owner from Indonesia.

[kai]

Sure, David, that's clearly visible from the original close-up.

I was just referring to Anthony's initial statement:

The Pesi is the standard circular type, not square.

Regards,
Kai