Keris for comment

[Seerp Visser]

Welcome Drabant1701.

I hope you will enjoy this forum about the keris and will find out that the keris is NOT a piece of primitive art.
It seems that you were lucky to buy a fine piece of craftsmanship, that even in these times, is regarded as top.
The appreciation of this keris as piece of art is personal, but the keris is made by what the French call an Artisan for sure.
Congratulations with your acquisition.

[Drabant1701]

Thank you all for your replys! I am glad to hear that this might be a keris without ganja, and that it has some age to it. This is my first keris and I have spent some time the last two says studying the subject. What strikes me is how vast this subject is, which makes the expertise on this forum all the more impressive .

If I were to add one or two books on the subject to my library, what would you recommend?

Originally Posted by Seerp Visser

Welcome Drabant1701.

I hope you will enjoy this forum about the keris and will find out that the keris is NOT a piece of primitive art.
It seems that you were lucky to buy a fine piece of craftsmanship, that even in these times, is regarded as top.
The appreciation of this keris as piece of art is personal, but the keris is made by what the French call an Artisan for sure.
Congratulations with your acquisition.

Thank you Seerp Visser. I see now that I wrote in a way that could be read as me thinking that the keris is primitive art. I was not refering to the keris itself but to this specific hilt, and a better term would perhaps be folk art. This in comparance to other keris hilts that I have seen that are masterpieces of intricate carving.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Drabant1701

If I were to add one or two books on the subject to my library, what would you recommend?

Mine of course!

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Drabant1701

Thank you all for your replys! I am glad to hear that this might be a keris without ganja, and that it has some age to it. This is my first keris and I have spent some time the last two says studying the subject. What strikes me is how vast this subject is, which makes the expertise on this forum all the more impressive .

If I were to add one or two books on the subject to my library, what would you recommend?

I know I wasn't asked, but for one I'd recommend The World of The Javanese Keris by Garret and Bronwyn Solyum.
This is a soft cover book, out of print.
I have two copies...

I would also recommend a visit to Alan Maisey's very informative site.
There is lots of information there to absorb.

[Bjorn]

To me it seems like a gonjo iras as well. Lombok was also the first thing that came to mind. The blade should show a nice pamor if stained.

[Drabant1701]

Originally Posted by yuuzan

To me it seems like a gonjo iras as well. Lombok was also the first thing that came to mind. The blade should show a nice pamor if stained.

I have etched the blade. Perhaps I could have etched darker but I stopped when I thought it looked allright, no point in overdoing it. Anyways, sharing some pictures of the result.

[David]

What did you use to etch this blade?

[Drabant1701]

Originally Posted by David

What did you use to etch this blade?

I read that the correct way to etch keris is with arsenic and lime. I had lime-juice but no arsenic, lime juice alone did not etch at all. Lemon juice did not do much either. Finaly I tried dilluted Ferric Chloride (about 20%) that etched pretty quickly, I did not etch very long since ferric is rather strong.

[Rick]

I think if you used arsenic & Lime you would see a reverse effect.
Almost like negative to positive in photography.
My cousin to your blade was done with arsenic & lime.

I don't know if you can get any where you live, but iirc it must be white arsenic.

[Drabant1701]

Originally Posted by Rick

I think if you used arsenic & Lime you would see a reverse effect.
Almost like negative to positive in photography.
My cousin to your blade was done with arsenic & lime.

I don't know if you can get any where you live, but iirc it must be white arsenic.

Interesting. I cant get arsenic here so that is not an option. But it would look better if the effect was reversed. Is there any alternetive method that would produce a result similar to arsenic and lime?