Another Keris

[David]

Well frankly Bill, i would rather hear what YOU think it is first.
Personally i have never made any claims at being particularly good at naming and categorizing keris. Naming pamors and dhapurs has never been my strong suit and in many ways i find it to be secondary to a deeper understanding of the keris. I have never bought a keris because of what i was told it was supposed to be, but rather because that particular keris "called" to me. As for tangguh, i won't even pretend to fully understand the process. The most important thing i could probably say about that here is that it is generally not really possible to do correctly without the keris in hand. Photographs do not convey enough information. But i can usually tell a old keris from a new one.
That said, i like this keris. It appears to have two pamor patterns (dwi warno), one that is sada sader, the other i am not sure of. I also see what look like brighter "dots" of pamor material along the blade. If i were feeling really inventive i might want to image those as meteoric pamor. But seeing as how there is really no way to truly establish that i would just note it as "interesting". The keris looks old to me, older than the 19th century. Again, i don't have the skill set to do tangguh, especially from a photograph, but if forced to pick a century i might place this in the late 16th- early 17th C.
The more recent dress is Surakarta Ladrang. The wrongoko is iras, made all in one piece with the top sheath and stem, a more difficult and rarer sheath form. From the fit it seems likely that the sheath was made specifically for the blade. I cannot tell the materials of the blewah pendok. It looks like it might be brass with perhaps a gold wash or plating on top.
All in all it looks like a nice, well maintained old keris with a well executed pamor. Something that i would be more than happy to have in my collection.