Sumatra Keris for review.

[Alam Shah]

Hi Willem,

Nice Minangkabau keris. Lovely luk 3 example. The blade form is nice, similar to ( mine ).. the selut form is original, top row used to be decorated with red stones, followed by wire-works decorations.. as David mentioned, the stones are missing.. ( see example ). Lovely hilt in jawa demam form.. does looks minang to me. Congrats!

[David]

Thanks for the complete example Shahrial. Doesn't look so shabby when we see the original form.

[asomotif]

Thanks Sharial for the better example of this type selut.

Indeed these are settings, only one has a red stone and the others are deformed or missing. It also looks like someone has applied gold coloured paint to my selut.

I will see if it is possible to restore the selut.
Heating the complete selut in order to weld on new settings will probably destroy the thing.
But maybe a loose ring with settings can be made.
Will be quite some work, but the blade and hilt are worth it.

Thanks and best regards,
Willem

[Rick]

I love the handle !
Nice !

[Marcokeris]

Originally Posted by Rick

I love the handle !
Nice !

I too

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Alam Shah

Hi Willem,

Lovely hilt in jawa demam form.. does looks minang to me. Congrats!

Hi Alam Shah,
If this hilt is not Minang, where is it from according to you ? I read that it is customary for the Minangkabau to wear gold-painted wooden krisses during wedding ceremonies.
Best regards
Jean

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Hi Alam Shah,
If this hilt is not Minang, where is it from according to you ? I read that it is customary for the Minangkabau to wear gold-painted wooden krisses during wedding ceremonies.
Best regards
Jean

Jean, i think you may have misread Alam Shah's remarks. He says he thinks it is Minang.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Jean, i think you may have misread Alam Shah's remarks. He says he thinks it is Minang.

Hi David and Alam Shah,
Hoops, sorry! I read it too fast and I agree about the likely Minang origin.
Best regards
Jean

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by Jean

Hi Alam Shah,
... I read that it is customary for the Minangkabau to wear gold-painted wooden krisses during wedding ceremonies.
Best regards
Jean

Yup, I've read that too..
red and gold are traditional Minang colours - red (which symbolises courage), black (which symbolises strength) and yellow or gold (which symbolises victory)..

[asomotif]

Hello Sharial,

Thanks for the explanation about the colours.
I have not seen too many minang keris', but among those I have seen this is the first with such a carved and painted ukiran.

Personally I like ukiran that are less elobarately than this one.
But than again, this appears to be an original combi.

Do you have any idea about the age of this keris ?
The seller told me that a relative brought it back in the 1920' / 30' s.
But I would also not exclude that maybe this relative visited Indonesia again after the independance. Maybe in the 60' / 70's
In those years a lot of dutch people who lived and worked in Pre WW 2 Indonesia went into retirement and spent there time and money visiting Indonesia again.
Anyway , would like to hear your opinion (and other of course) on possible age of this keris

Best regards,
Willem

[asomotif]

I did some cleaning on the blade.

Any comments on how it is now ?
Seems like a very well executed blade to me.

[Sajen]

Hi Willem,

like I write before, a very nice keris, the blade is indeed very good worked. When I am you I will clean the blade until all corrosion is away and then I will blacken the blade. BTW, this keris would be a great a addition in my small Minang collection. Again, a very nice keris!!
sajen