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[A. G. Maisey]

In respect of the dragon blade.

It is not an old one, "old" being back into the 19th century --- this "old" idea can wander around more or less according to the feelings of the person who is providing the opinion, so "old" might be pre-1640 or so, or it might be 1978 or so.

My feeling about this particular blade is that it could be 1920's through to mid-1970's, before 1980, but excluding +/- the period of Japanese occupation during WWII.

The hilt is not a masterpiece, as already noted, but it is true to form and all keris & their dress do come in varying qualities, the difference between best & lesser items is usually expressed in $$$$.

Regarding the Jogja keris.
Varnish is easy to remove, depending on exactly what kind of "varnish" it is it might move with methylated spirits, or you might need some other solvent, but it will come off.

The pendok should not be much of a job to straighten out, a piece of 1cm round steel bar clamed horizontal in a vice & inserted into the pendok will permit the dents to be straightened out, finger pressure is usually enough.

A new gandar can be made in two halves & then fitted to the gambar (atasan), and a few spots of Araldite or similar adhesive along the joint will hold the two halves in place. If the gambar has a foot, button shellac might be the wisest adhesive to use for fixing gandar to gambar, I say "wisest" because a button shellac joint is easily detached and gives you the opportunity to correct a poor fit.

All these items can be brought back to decent condition without much effort.