Bugis keris unusual blade/help wanted

[BluErf]

Originally Posted by asomotif

Dear Bluerf,

Interesting.
Personally I have not much knowledge on the various blade forms.
Unless they are very clear and according to the book dapurs like for instance Balinese keris.

This hilt form is here in the Netherlands always assumed to be Buginese.

The scabbard is recently made, so it might be not the traditional wood sort.

I have stained th eblade yesterday with some lemonjuice.
Will post some pictures later.

best regards,
Willem

Hello Willem,

I can understand the confusion over the forms. I struggled for years to learn and differentiate the different forms. In fact, I still do get baffled every now and then by the various forms.

The Bugis influence in these kerises are evident, whether they're from the Peninsula or Sumatra. However, there are subtle differences which are consistent enough to differentiate between the regions. Of course, there are always the oddballs that appear every so often.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to 'tell' you easily what these differences are, at least not without showing you the physical forms. I asked the same questions myself when I started out and was rather frustrated that the seniors could not effectively articulate the differences to me. Now I find myself in the same position.

[A. G. Maisey]

I have very little expertise in the correct classification of keris from outside Jawa, but when I first looked at the photos of this keris the general "feeling" I had from it was Sumatra. The way in which the blade has been made, the pendongkok, the atasan of the wrongko, to me these all say "Sumatra" but they do not even whisper anything else.

Blu Erf has much more experience with these types of keris than I do, and if he casts his vote for Sumatra, that combined with my own feeling is sufficient to cause me to go along the same track.