Bali keris comments plz

JeffS · Yesterday, 08:57 PM

This just arrived. I am looking forward to cleaning up the blade, there appears to be interesting pamor. To me it feels old based on the worn greneng and other general erosion. The gandar is pegged together, not sure if I have seen that before, missing pendok.

JeffS · Yesterday, 08:59 PM

Some of the pamor is visible here.

A. G. Maisey · Today, 02:29 AM

Jeff, this keris never had a pendok, it had veneer(Bali:-penabeng) glued to the front of the gandar (Bali:- penyejer). This veneer might have been a single strip of figured veneer, or it might have been made up of smaller pieces of pretty wood, as in the attached photo.

The use of pegs to keep the gandar together is, to the best of my knowledge, unknown in Bali, but it is sometimes encountered in Jawa, Sumatera, & Malay/Bugis scabbards. In this particular scabbard it is my opinion that this is a repair to the scabbard that was done in Peninsular Malaysia or Singapore.

The hilt looks nice and of a traditional interpretation, I am inclined to place it later than 1900.

I'm not going to take any sort of guess at blade age, there are conflicting indicators & I would need to handle the blade to form any sort of defensible opinion.

Yesterday, 08:57 PM	#1
JeffS Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 431	Bali keris comments plz This just arrived. I am looking forward to cleaning up the blade, there appears to be interesting pamor. To me it feels old based on the worn greneng and other general erosion. The gandar is pegged together, not sure if I have seen that before, missing pendok. Attached Images

Yesterday, 08:59 PM	#2
JeffS Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 431	Some of the pamor is visible here. Attached Images

Today, 02:29 AM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,044	Jeff, this keris never had a pendok, it had veneer(Bali:-penabeng) glued to the front of the gandar (Bali:- penyejer). This veneer might have been a single strip of figured veneer, or it might have been made up of smaller pieces of pretty wood, as in the attached photo. The use of pegs to keep the gandar together is, to the best of my knowledge, unknown in Bali, but it is sometimes encountered in Jawa, Sumatera, & Malay/Bugis scabbards. In this particular scabbard it is my opinion that this is a repair to the scabbard that was done in Peninsular Malaysia or Singapore. The hilt looks nice and of a traditional interpretation, I am inclined to place it later than 1900. I'm not going to take any sort of guess at blade age, there are conflicting indicators & I would need to handle the blade to form any sort of defensible opinion. Attached Images