new Keris, some questions

[morel5000]

Dear all,

I would like to present my new Keris, which I could pick up locally.
It has been in the family from the dutch soldier who took it with him since 1946.

As a starter I still have some questions:

Could someone identify the Pamor?
How old would the Wilah be?
What wood is the Waranka?

Any comments would be welcome,

Thanks for your time,
Michel

[A. G. Maisey]

Pamor:- wos wutah (beras wutah --- scattered rice (talismanic value to protect against want)

Age of blade:- very ballpark, circa 1850

Wrongko wood:- impossible to know, but as a guess, taking into consideration perceived age and quality, Cendana Jawa (Cendono Jowo, Javanese Sandalwood)

[kai]

Alan, do you think the mendak is replaced or even repaired? It seems of a very basic grade and I wonder when these started to pop up...

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Hello Michel,

You only show the backside of the scabbard - I suspect the brass pendok might have been reversed...

Regards,
Kai

[A. G. Maisey]

Kai, it might be as well to just pass over the mendak, it is most certainly not old and "basic" is being kind.

Really, its not a bad old keris, yes, untidy, but with a bit of attention it could be made to look pretty OK.

If Michel feels like doing that, the mendak could be replaced along the way.

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Michel,

You only show the backside of the scabbard - I suspect the brass pendok might have been reversed...

Regards,
Kai

I suspect you are correct, unless the photograph became flipped somewhere along the way. A pendok like this generally would not have the repousse design on both sides and we would expect this dress to appear as it does below in when we flip the image that has been presented to us. But this should be an easy adjustment by sliding the pendok off and placing it the other way round.

[morel5000]

Thanks for all the answers, I added some more photo's of the wood, the pendak and the blade.

The photo isn't flipped, I noticed the decoration being on the other side as my other Kerisses, but didn't register it. I never thought it should always be on the same side. I will see if I can flip it.

Although simple it looks like it is a handmade driven decoration.

I already cleaned the wood with some wood oil and it does look better already (not in these pics).
How should I give some attention to the blade? I have been searching already on the forum and I am not able to wash with arsenic.

[A. G. Maisey]

Pendok are not always easy to remove.

To begin with they are a pressure fit, sometimes the gandar can be wrapped with cloth, or paper to create that pressure fit, sometimes jabung can be used to hold the pendok in place, sometimes corrosion can build up on the inside of the pendok and all these things, as well as other things, can make a pendok difficult to remove.

Sometimes the gandar will separate from the gambar, leaving the gandar stuck inside the pendok, if this happens we need a segrek to remove it.

Judicious application of heat will always assist in removal.

[David]

First thing i would do is remove that bit of copper wire around the top of the gandar that appears to run under the pendok in the front. If the pendok is not fixed in place that will make removal easier. If it is difficult to remove Alan has given you some good advice.
I would start on the blade by removing the hilt (if that isn't fixed in place) and soaking the blade down well with WD-40. Let it work into the blade for a bit and it will loosen some dirt and rust. You can use an old toothbrush on the blade to loosen dirty further. The blade will probably need some soaking in a mild acid bath of fruit acid or vinegar to clean it properly and you may need to go over it with a pick or awl of some type and a magnifying glass to really clean it up completely. There are some other options to warangan that have been discussed on this forum in the past you could consider if arsenic is not an option. Or you could just oil it once cleaned and not stain it at all. Either way it will look better than it does now.

[A. G. Maisey]

Everything that David has written is good advice, however, I would proceed a little differently with the blade, I would take it into the kitchen, along with a hard toothbrush and give it a good scrub under running hot water with some dish was detergent, then I would pat dry with a lint free cloth, and blow dry with a hair dryer or hot air blower.

At that point I would assess it and decide whether it was OK as is, in which case I'd give it a drenching spray with WD40 and let it dry off before painting it with a light machine oil, or medicinal paraffin, preferably scented with sandalwood oil or similar.

If I decided that I might be able to improve the stain, I'd probably start by getting a couple of fresh tahitian limes squeezing & straining and then massaging the lime juice into the blade with a soft toothbrush, as the blade colour came up I'd rinse & dry & repeat. An old half stained blade like this will often respond to a half stain process.

If it is really dirty & corroded after the wash in the kitchen, a soak in white vinegar for a couple of days together with picking away rust mechanically as David suggests could be useful.

There are a lot of different ways to go with a keris blade, and it all depends upon your assessment as to which way might work the best, short of a complete strip back to a white blade, followed by a competent stain with lime juice and either warangan (natural arsenic) or laboratory quality white arsenic --- neither of which I will go on record as recommending.

[morel5000]

Thank you both for your good advice, the Pendok was luckily easily removed and is now mounted in the right way. I haven' found time to clean. If I do I will post the result.
Thanks again, Michel