Sumatran Mystery?

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Hi David,
I never saw a similar piece but offer my opinion as follows:
To me the blade seems to have been reshaped especially on the back side (wadidang), I can apparently see some traces of filing of the greneng and above it. It may have been shortened also and I doubt that it has pamor. As Kai showed a similar but apparently more original blade with a Malay/ East Sumatra JD hilt and full greneng, it may be a little-known local type of blade from Malaysia or East Sumatra.
The odd scabbard is reminiscent of the Palembang style without the "rudder" at the back but with a V shaped buntnut which is not used in South Sumatra.
The ivory hilt is old and of an unknown design & origin but the horn insert and crude pendokok seem recent.
So overall I would describe it as an assembly kris but not a KLO and I am open to other opinions especially from our Malaysian members...
Regards

Thanks for your response Jean. I don't think this has been reshaped, just not very well shaped in the first place (see my suggestion in my response to Gio). I think the file marks remain because the keris wasn't very well finished in the first place. I agree with both you and Gio that there is most probably no pamor in this keris.
I can't tell when the horn may have been added to the ivory hilt, though as Kai suggested it may be a means to continue the life of an old valued ivory hilt that became deteriorated at the base. The pendokok seems the most out of place part so i might be looking for suggestions on what to replace it with. Since this one seems hard to place geographically exactly what the pendokok should look like is difficult to determine.
To your knowledge is the "V" shaped buntut used in any part of Sumatra? I believe Kai suggested perhaps a peninsula origin.