Assistance for a keris novice

A. G. Maisey · 30th June 2017, 12:07 AM

David, my immediate impression was that I was looking at an old blade that had been carved with the naga the day before yesterday, but as I studied it further I formed a different opinion, or rather, two opinions.

To begin, I'd place the dress as pre-WWII, the blade fits nicely so the blade was very probably as we see it, pre-WWII.

Something that used to be done a long time ago was to take very large Tuban blades and use them to produce more attractive keris. This happened in the late 19th century, through to WWII, and a few were even done in the 1950's. I'm pretty sure this died out by the 1960's, I'd guess because the great big Tuban blades that were used as the raw material had become scarce and expensive --- these days those original giant size Tuban blades are very rare, very highly desirable and very expensive.

So this keris could easily be one of the alterations based on a big Tuban blade, but from a long time in the past.

The other alternative is low quality work, probably from a village smith, but again, pre-WWII.

Either way, I'd consider this keris a pretty good start to a collection, but I would be inclined to give the dress a bit of a facelift.

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30th June 2017, 12:07 AM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,019	David, my immediate impression was that I was looking at an old blade that had been carved with the naga the day before yesterday, but as I studied it further I formed a different opinion, or rather, two opinions. To begin, I'd place the dress as pre-WWII, the blade fits nicely so the blade was very probably as we see it, pre-WWII. Something that used to be done a long time ago was to take very large Tuban blades and use them to produce more attractive keris. This happened in the late 19th century, through to WWII, and a few were even done in the 1950's. I'm pretty sure this died out by the 1960's, I'd guess because the great big Tuban blades that were used as the raw material had become scarce and expensive --- these days those original giant size Tuban blades are very rare, very highly desirable and very expensive. So this keris could easily be one of the alterations based on a big Tuban blade, but from a long time in the past. The other alternative is low quality work, probably from a village smith, but again, pre-WWII. Either way, I'd consider this keris a pretty good start to a collection, but I would be inclined to give the dress a bit of a facelift.