Antique Minangkabau Keris for Comments

[kai]

Hello David,

The more i look at this keris the less it looks Minangkabau to me. The pendokok perhaps, but the rest of the dress looks wrong and the blade looks even less likely. It's a nice one though.

Wasn't going to open that can of worms...

I agree that the selut/pendokok - considering that it is usually easy to change - lends the weakest support for placing an ensemble. The scabbard would probably fit well with Riau or possibly eastern Sumatra.

I assume the blade to be rather small and I've seen Minang blades with isolated features resembling this example; need to look for any pics though.

The Minang traveled widely and it's not rare to see "mixed" examples. What other origin would you consider this blade being from?

Age is always tricky. I would feel safe with 19th century, but would say 18th century was impossible.

I assume you meant to type:
"..., but would not say 18th century was impossible."

Regards,
Kai