Help with Keris ID?

[Bill]

If I were to guess, the hilt looks to be 20thC; because of the brass work, shape & condition. The "spacer" (quite a mystry why it is even here) if leather, I don't know; if its really hemp & pitch, my guess would be that it was re-hilted in Mindanao. My knowledge of the keris is very little. The bawah, (this form) I assume by most of what I have seen posted is always suppose to be an elephant head. I wonder if this is true. When the Portuguese arrive in Celebes, it is noted all the men carry a keris. Anyone have any idea of what one of these keris would look like? 14", the dapor, the bawah, & nickle content; could this be 16 or 17thC Bugis?

[nechesh]

Hi Bill. This blade certainly is old. Though judging tangguh is not my strong point it is my understanding that the erasure of various elements of the ricikan from years of blade erosion would make it more difficult to place this keris in a specific period. But i wouldn't be surprised if it were indeed 17thC.
The profile seen in the gandik of a keris is definitly not always supposed to be an "elephant head". I put this in quotes because AFAIK there is no definitive proof that it is indeed supposed to be an actual elephant. But you also see keris (more rarely) with nagas and singos. I recently saw bali blade with a human face in this position. A seated human can rarely be seen as well. A birds had is not one i recall ever seeing and i am fairly positive that the keris in question was indeed intended to be an "elephant head" that has eroded away.
I would still be more likely to see this blade as Sumatran or Javanese before Bugis. It's slender form and general profile does not appear Bugis to me.

[Bill]

I'm assuming that the original smith is likely to make his own tools. His limitations are going to be of both skill & tools. Although other craftsmen may have been involved in file work, I would think that would be on pieces of more value. I recall reading that in one Bone city alone of an estimate of over 200 smiths. Not all of these smiths would be making keris, but there must have been a number of smiths, of various degrees, one could commission a keris. If one could not afford good file work, you might have to settle for a "beak" or whatever it is, I'm sure it was of some importance to someone. It really doesn't look like much more was ever there, more cheisel work, than file work. The "Luwa" may well have been the norm, of the metal used when this piece was made. The 14" blade strikes me as keris that would be carried by someone who needed a weapon, maybe even more than a spritual aid.

[nechesh]

Bill, are you going somewhere with this beak theory, or just trying to be contrary? There is nothing about this keris that implies a smith that was unable to create a proper kembang kacang. While this keris is certain no master work, it had a competent hand. The "beak" is the result of time and acid washings. There were probably well executed ron da originally and they are worn away as well.
Pamor luwu was used on the keris of many islands as Sulawesi was a main supplier of nickelous iron.

[Bill]

My only "beak" theory is that it is done with a cheisel & little file work. If this was done in Java, it would seem a waste of besi iron, since it appears that more brittle Chinese iron would be used on a lesser piece. On the other hand it seems likely this type of iron would be used in both high end and low end pieces if it were done in Sulawesi, as it appears Sulawesi did not import iron 16-17C. I get the feeling that this keris is more village smith made than by some center of iron work. I have no strong argument that this is Bugis, but for what is already mentioned, I would tend to favor them for origin.

[Boedhi Adhitya]

Hi everyone,

IMHO, Tangguh (determining/judging the keris' origin/age) is the hardest exoteric knowledges in keris world. In Java, tangguh usually attributed to a kingdom, in some cases, to a king, or even more, to the empu him/herselves. Some elders in Java thought, Tangguh might means the keris' ages and origin, but also might means the style of certain kingdom which could be copied by other empus (keris makers) from other era. They introduced the term "Toya" (water), which means the water used to temper the blade, to describe the previous style which has been copied to the next era. In fact, for certain tangguh, the younger tangguh might be considered as the perfection of the older style. This could be happened by the "Mutrani" process (to make putra/son, which is, copying the previous invaluable heirlooms) done inside the court.

To determine the tangguh, ones must look very carefully to the overall and details shape of the blade, the materials used, and also the technique employed by the empu to make the blade. Then, ones must also consider the "look/feel" of kerises, known as "Pasikutan" in Java. For instance, the Mataram blades should feel as if you see the handsome young knight, standing tall in front of you, while the Majapahit blades should be "wingit", as if you look at the haunted house or a holy priest. To feel it, you need no mantras or fasting for days, just look and feel it, just like you look and feel the unfaithful face

Some styles may influence another and mixed, but still there are the differences. One important point the inexperienced students usually forgot, not all kerises' tangguh could be determined, simply because the empu's skill/knowledge was too low, or the lack of materials needed. These unfortunate even usually happened to "empu jawi" (empu outside the court) which made kerises for commoners. Judging such kerises might be very frustating, so some elders in Java introduced one more term : "Tilar Tangguh" (which literally means leaving the tangguh, which is, not comply with any tangguh pattern already known), contrary to "Tangguh Lempoh" (comply with nearly all criteria, if not whole, for certain tangguh).

About the blade in discussion,
I must agree with Alam Shah and others, that it's more likely to be Javanese blade. Bugis' blades tend to be thicker, wider awak-awak but narrower sor-soran, with thicker ganja and bigger ganja's head / sirah cecak.
The thin and slightly curved ganja (sebit lontar) and the pamor on the blade in discussion shows Mataram influences ( c.a. XVII cent. ), but the luks/waves are too shallow for typical Mataram blades. the sogokan are very rough, so for me, it's raised a question, wheter it was made by empu himself or later by the owner/other unskilled smith. The sekar kacang had broken. The crow-beak-shaped sekar kacang very uncommon for 11 luk, and usually reserved for high-rank court official. The dhapur which use beaked-sekar kacang are Pasopati (straight blade), Megantara (7 luk) and Paniwen (7/9 luk ? sorry, I can recall. Got to open the book, too many dhapur for my tiny brain ) and several others. To determine the sekar kacang is original crow beak or broken trunk, just look at the tip of the ganja head and draw the imaginary perpendicular line. The beaked-sekar kacang must nearly touching the line, if not, it might be the elephant trunk which had been broken.

I must admit that the keris knowledge I've learnt was only from Java, especially from the elders in Jogjakarta. Many of the knowledges unwritten, so if you ask me to show the book, I would show you the living book . Although I've seen some Bali, Bugis and Sumatra blades, I would consider myself inexperience on them. Like Rick said, we are all students here. The more I learn, the more I know that I knew nothing.