Keris - javanese blade in Kedah mounts?

[kai]

Hello Gustav,

Congrats, nice score! I also do like the selut: quality seems quite above average!

Actually quality/state of preservation of the blade wasn't acceptable for me, yet the whole was so interesting, that I decided to go for it.

The blade doesn't look bad to me - quite some substance left, it seems?

IMVHO the ricikan look a bit rudimentary and were possibly never up to Jawa kraton quality standards though - however, this picture might change if you hypothesize major loss due to edge corrosion/repair...

The blade is 32,5 cm long, pesi 5,2 cm. If pesi was cut, it happened a long time ago, there are no signs of this procedure left.

Would also like to see the pesi!

The blade fits perfectly in the sheath, at the mouth of the sheath as well as in the length.

To me the crosspiece looks like a somewhat later replacement - how does it look inside?

Sampir is made from black, very dense wood (Kenaung?).

Are you sure this isn't dyed wood?

My general question is the provenance of the blade: is this an older javanese blade, or could it perhaps be an old peninsular blade, perhaps a proto-Malela blade?

It's not a Malela blade. I believe Detlef may be up to something: size and dhapur would fit quite well with Minang Kabau esthetics; also a wavy gonjo and Javanese-inspired ricikan (and pamor) are not that rare with Minang keris.

I wouldn't be surprised if this were a N Malay keris blade crafted with heavy Minang influence. Expat Minang have had quite a bit of social/political influence regionally (in Negri Sembilan).

Regards,
Kai