Bali Keris for Comment.

[kai]

Hello Leif,

Yes, good examples of this type are not common.

Paul, Yes! You're absolutely right! There is one with residual filling! I can't believe I missed this.

I tried to take a few close up photos of this, and a few others were there's residual filling. It looks a bit like a blackish? resin of some kind. Almost like a wax. A black filling would fit with the aesthetic of the other examples.

Anyone have any clue what it might be? I'm wondering it it's restorable.

Probably cutler's resin, at least from what can be seen in the older hilt. This mix should be much harder (after cooling down) than wax to take a polish and prove robust enough. If the remnants are wax-like it might be a later attempt to cosmetically fill the holes with hard wax as usual with antique furniture.

Regards,
Kai