Is it a good keris ?

David · 16th December 2023, 04:33 PM

As has been already pointed out, this is a fairly decent Balinese keris blade, but it is housed in dress that is aimed directly at Western tourism. You can count yourself fortunate that such a decent blade is in this dress, because usually they are occupied by old and worn out poor quality keris or even worse, the dreaded stock removal garbage with the fake batik pamor.
As Alan mentioned, while it would be nice to give this keris proper dress, as no self-respecting Balinese man wear such an ensemble in public, the could be difficult from you position living in Germany. And as also pointed out, some people do find this tourist dress to be somewhat collectable and this is a very classic representation of that this form. Yes, it is true that your hilt is carved better than many of these tourist models are, but it is still clearly in that category. If this were mine i would wash/scrub the blade well in soapy water, dry it completely and then oil it well. I would also use some wood oil on the dress and call it a day. i would image that you probably got a decent deal on this because of the style of dress.

milandro · 17th December 2023, 10:59 AM

As others have said, I see this king of sarong and this kind of hilt very often . They are carved for the tourist market

As other have said too, at least you were very lucky to get what appears to be a nice , old, blade. I see all too often blades that are simply cut out pieces of iron with a some painted motief with only the suggestion of a pamor.

Your blade is forged and if properly treated will reveal some sort of pamor obtained in the forge and not with paint.

As for redressing it , I have had some succes with a German dealer on Bali, he can find a sarong maker who can fashion a dress and a hilt for this kris.

It is not easy but you neet to take accurate and extensive pictures of the kris with measurements, then , after some time, he will ship you the sarong. The hilt is not a problem.

I have done this twice and the second time I was for a Bali Kris. The fitting was a little too tight but with the help of a local dealer(who is also a woodworker) with few minutes of work with a Dremel , the fitting is now perfect

see how it came out here

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29008

Marius66 · 17th December 2023, 08:55 PM

Really nice !!
Thank you Milandro !!!

Sajen · 18th December 2023, 03:31 PM

Hello Marius,

When you plan to give the blade a new scabbard I would use for this blade one of the two shown examples.

BTW, sometimes you have to wait much longer than a few hours for a comment!

Regards,
Detlef

Marius66 · 21st December 2023, 12:48 PM

Here are some other photos I took of the keris,
I cleaned the blade a little with 1000 grain with WD40 (surely there's something better to do?) the Mendak, I think that's its name, doesn't look bad I think ??
What do you think ?

Marius66 · 21st December 2023, 12:51 PM

Here a global picture,
Without picture zoom , the blade is almost black

Sajen · 21st December 2023, 01:45 PM

The blade looks good after your cleaning. And the uwer (mendak is the Javanese term) looks very nice, I guess that it is from silver.
But like others have said, I would look to give the blade a better handle and an other scabbard, I think the tip from Milandro is a good one.

Regards,
Detlef

17th December 2023, 10:59 AM	#2
milandro Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Location: Netherlands Posts: 462	As others have said, I see this king of sarong and this kind of hilt very often . They are carved for the tourist market As other have said too, at least you were very lucky to get what appears to be a nice , old, blade. I see all too often blades that are simply cut out pieces of iron with a some painted motief with only the suggestion of a pamor. Your blade is forged and if properly treated will reveal some sort of pamor obtained in the forge and not with paint. As for redressing it , I have had some succes with a German dealer on Bali, he can find a sarong maker who can fashion a dress and a hilt for this kris. It is not easy but you neet to take accurate and extensive pictures of the kris with measurements, then , after some time, he will ship you the sarong. The hilt is not a problem. I have done this twice and the second time I was for a Bali Kris. The fitting was a little too tight but with the help of a local dealer(who is also a woodworker) with few minutes of work with a Dremel , the fitting is now perfect see how it came out here http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29008 Last edited by milandro; 17th December 2023 at 01:21 PM.

18th December 2023, 03:31 PM	#4
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,732	Hello Marius, When you plan to give the blade a new scabbard I would use for this blade one of the two shown examples. BTW, sometimes you have to wait much longer than a few hours for a comment! Regards, Detlef Attached Images

21st December 2023, 12:48 PM	#5
Marius66 Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 93	Here are some other photos I took of the keris, I cleaned the blade a little with 1000 grain with WD40 (surely there's something better to do?) the Mendak, I think that's its name, doesn't look bad I think ?? What do you think ? Attached Images

21st December 2023, 12:51 PM	#6
Marius66 Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 93	Here a global picture, Without picture zoom , the blade is almost black Attached Images

16th December 2023, 04:33 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,100	As has been already pointed out, this is a fairly decent Balinese keris blade, but it is housed in dress that is aimed directly at Western tourism. You can count yourself fortunate that such a decent blade is in this dress, because usually they are occupied by old and worn out poor quality keris or even worse, the dreaded stock removal garbage with the fake batik pamor. As Alan mentioned, while it would be nice to give this keris proper dress, as no self-respecting Balinese man wear such an ensemble in public, the could be difficult from you position living in Germany. And as also pointed out, some people do find this tourist dress to be somewhat collectable and this is a very classic representation of that this form. Yes, it is true that your hilt is carved better than many of these tourist models are, but it is still clearly in that category. If this were mine i would wash/scrub the blade well in soapy water, dry it completely and then oil it well. I would also use some wood oil on the dress and call it a day. i would image that you probably got a decent deal on this because of the style of dress.

17th December 2023, 08:55 PM	#3
Marius66 Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 93	Really nice !! Thank you Milandro !!!

21st December 2023, 01:45 PM	#7
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,732	The blade looks good after your cleaning. And the uwer (mendak is the Javanese term) looks very nice, I guess that it is from silver. But like others have said, I would look to give the blade a better handle and an other scabbard, I think the tip from Milandro is a good one. Regards, Detlef