Keris Selit

[Gustav]

Hello Kai;

There do appear to be some PS variants; while short blades tend to be more stout, I'm not convinced that this really represents a PS style though. However, it clearly exhibits northern Malay features and it may be a moot point what name to tag on it...

One of the most characteristic, distinctive features for a PS is the central ridge (Odo-Odo), continued on Gonjo. It is present. Also Greneng on my blade is absolutely typical for PS.

Do you associate monosteel in Malayan keris with the WW2 period and later? I'd expect them to have access to monosteel quite a lot earlier and utilize it for keris, too.

I own about 10 Peninsular blades and have seen some more. They are older ones; for two, including this KS, I am not so sure and would accept period around WWII as a possible time frame of making. These are the latest ones. None of my blades or old (pre-WWII) blades I have seen, are made from mono-steel. My impression until now is, that, even if mono-steel was used for tools already in 19th cent., Keris blades still would be made from laminated material.

Like I emailed you a while back, I wouldn't be surprised to find warangan on (untouched) antique blades from pretty much all over the archipelago (including the northern Malay region).

I have never had or expressed a contrary oppinion, au contraire.

Fruit juices also darken steel/etc. though - what criteria speak for warangan, specifically?

I am sure you have experienced many times - after some time in juice the blade turns deep black in some places and these places start "to bleed" while scrubbing the blade.

I guess I see what you mean - could this possibly be shear steel? This also can exhibit sham-like internal structure resembling crucible steel.

Perhaps. It's something I haven't seen before (except for the Gonjo).