27th September 2016, 06:16 AM
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#7
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
To emphasise what David has already said.
I am 76 years old, I began to collect keris at the age of 12, I began to seriously study keris at the age of 14, I studied with Empu Suparman Supowijoyo for about 15 years, I have numbered amongst my friends other well known empus, pande keris and m'ranggis.
I have a fair working knowledge of the Javanese and Madurese keris, I know a bit less about the Balinese keris, of other keris I know almost nothing.
Cal, if you wish to learn about the keris you can count on a very lengthy course of study.
However, that does not answer your question.
It is very difficult to judge the physical quality of a keris from photos. I am often asked to give an opinion on the quality of keris and I almost invariably qualify my answer by saying something like:- "--- my opinion could be very different if I held this keris in my hand ---".
If you buy on an auction site like ebay, you are backing your own judgement, and at your stage of learning, that would be a rather unwise thing to do. The wisest way for a beginner to buy is to seek out a reliable dealer who knows what he is selling, tell the dealer what you want and trust his judgement.
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I've seen the evidence and I am intrigued. I'm just trying to narrow down a good starting point. Thank you for the work you have done. The only thing now is to find a good reliable dealer. Hint hint lol
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