Celebes keris?

[Sajen]

Hi Ben,

when the fit is good in this sheath I would let the keris with this sheath. Only the pendokok seems to be a little bit to small in diameter.

Regards,

Detlef

[Rick]

Just thinking out loud; perhaps straightening the pesi is not a good idea if one wishes to use the same handle .

[Harley]

Hi Detlef and Rick,

I don´t think i will use this sheath now that i know the blade is Javanese, it´s a good fit, but i don´t like it, i´ll think i have to make one more sheath
I can´t give you an explanation why i don´t like to have a blade and sheath that are not from the same area, it´s just my idea.
And hopefully someday i find a Bugis blade for this sheath.
Thanks for your opinion!

regards,
Ben

[Henk]

I would leave this keris as it is.

I had the same idea as Rick, leave the pesi as it is and keep this ukiran.

The blade however might be a javanese blade. Javanese blades where highly apreciated, brought to these areas and mounted in Bugis or Celebes dress. The javanese blades where so much apreciated that blades where even forged in these areas after javanese examples

[Harley]

Hi Henk,

You guys are giving me a hard time , just kidding, i appreciate the opinions
you've given.
I know that it's something thats not unusual, but why am i trying to give the lonely blade's a sheath that would fit for the area they come from, if i didn't take notice of it with this one?
I am not in a hurry, because i,m still busy with the other sheaths, so i have time to think about it.

regards,
Ben

[David]

Originally Posted by Harley

You guys are giving me a hard time , just kidding, i appreciate the opinions you've given.
I know that it's something thats not unusual, but why am i trying to give the lonely blade's a sheath that would fit for the area they come from, if i didn't take notice of it with this one?
I am not in a hurry, because i,m still busy with the other sheaths, so i have time to think about it.

You know Harley, i am in full agreement with Henk. If indeed this sheath appears to have been made for this blade i would leave it dressed just as is. You often find blades from Jawa dressed in other styles either because the blade travelled in trade to one of the other islands or it's owner migrated to one of these other islands and decided to dress his blade in the style of his new home. From my perspective these keris come with a history and i am always surprised to find that many collectors want to lose that history in order to either upgrade a keris that they have no family connection with or dress it in a manner that they deem more culturally correct. This seems a shame to me as the history of a keris is an important part of what i am trying to collect and maintain in my own collection. Certainly it is true that we sometimes run across "frankenkeris" creations thrown together by dealers just trying to make a sale, but if it seems at all that this marriage of blade and dress has any real ethnographic history to it i would just leave it be.

[Marcokeris]

Originally Posted by Henk

I would leave this keris as it is.

I had the same idea as Rick, leave the pesi as it is and keep this ukiran.

The blade however might be a javanese blade. Javanese blades where highly apreciated, brought to these areas and mounted in Bugis or Celebes dress. The javanese blades where so much apreciated that blades where even forged in these areas after javanese examples

I agree. Imo also the pesi is good . The curve of the pesi should be fully secure the bugis handle in the right position chosen by the previous owner (without to put other material around the pesi)
PS: I like a lot pamor patter of your keris

[Harley]

It looks like i am overruled here, i reckon i am the only one with this strange way of thinking
But it definitely made me to give it a second taught!
Thanks Marco

regards,
Ben

[asomotif]

Hello Ben,

Nice keris. The fit in the scabbard looks good. So I am also in favour of keeping it as it is. I would probably even not straighten the peksi unless it would give an inproper fitting of the hilt.

As for turning this into a javanese keris ?
Why bother, when there are plenty of nice javanese keris available.
Expand your collection find a nice javanese keris in javanese dress.

Best regards,
Willem

[Harley]

David,

I fully agree that the history is important, but what about the Bali keris that I've shown, the sheath i think was made for that blade,
OK the pendok was a bad repair, but it had a sort of history behind it.
It was a plain ugly sheath, but the woodwork was not bad at all, I've i had shared your opinion, then that wasn't a good choice either.
I can't tell you if this Javanese blade and sheath has a history, or it's just done to sell, it comes from a antique shop, so it could be both way's.
But these are the things that are so great about this forum, everyone give there honest opinion, and i respect that fully.

regards,
Ben