Moro Kris: what did I buy?

[kai]

Hello Ariel,

I always thought that the gangya/blade joint was the most important indicator of the age. The really old ones ( 18th cen) had almost straight line, relatively old ones ( late 19th to mid 20th) were noticeably angled, and new models had a one-piece construction ( with or without a scratched imitation of the joint).

There are quite a few archaic ones with angled separation line which would be more typical for 19th c. examples; there also seem to be a few later examples with almost straight separation line. The late 19th to early 20th c. kris usually have a very pronounced/longish angle. There are indications that pieces with separate gangya have been continued to be produced, especially in the Sulu archipelago. Nowadays, I see quite a few new but artificially aged pieces with separate gangya coming out of Mindanao again...

Does the same rule apply to non-Moro swords?

No. Malay (and even modern repros by the Madura guys) seem to have been almost always been done with separate gangya.

Are there any other good indicators of age?

Hilts and grip binding can help (if original); blade size and form, too. Workmanship may also help; telling old pieces of low quality from decent 20th c. examples may pose problems though...

Could you spell for me what exact features would differentiate a large/heavy Indonesian kris from a light and shortish Moro one?

The Indonesian/Malay keris (i.e. the dagger type in its many incarnations) is not a problem; the (ethnically) Malay keris sundang (sword or large dagger) can be tough to tell apart from Moro kris though: no hard and fast rules apply - there have been several discussions touching on this issue if you turn on the search engine (Moro + Malay/Sumatra/Borneo).

I cannot see the tang and even x-ray is not going to help here. I do not wish to break the handle.

Repeatedly heating the blade with a candle and letting it cool down again will eventually loosen up any blade not glued with epoxy nor other modern glues... Try once or twice a day and just gently "tweak" the hilt when the blade is hot (if you don't apply excessive force, the hilt will be fine).

Regards,
Kai