Keris gamble, fingers crossed?

[kai]

Hello Tim,

The handle is already cracked and have a feeling that the bottom section of the blade has been gunged up with glue.

These seem to be hairline cracks from age - nothing too serious but avoid too much pressure (which is also true for apparently intact keris hilts).

It's also not uncommon for gonjo of old, washed blades to become loose and get reattached (although the cheap glue used by many dealers certainly isn't a traditional nor decent choice).

The tang is so short and tapered I do not think I will ever be able to stop it turning so easily.

The pesi is obviously shorter than it used to be originally. However, the current tradition (especially on Jawa and most collectors worldwide) to use some piece of cloth or threads to wrap the pesi until it just holds the hilt will always allow the blade to turn. Since you basically hold the blade rather than just the hilt, you could still use many old keris as a weapon; however, in unaltered examples from the "good, old days" when and where they apparently were utilized more frequently as weapons you often see their hilts firmly attached with some mixture(s) of natural resins/pitch/etc. BTW, a flimsy tang can always be repaired which is often done in Jawa AFAIK.

If you like the blade, don't quibble too much with the remainder - neither the pesi nor the larger hole of the ukiran would be considered a fatal flaw in Jawa. Obviously, this keris is not perfect: a perfect, old keris will cost you the equivalent of one or more estates rather than meals...

Establishing what you really look for in a blade (and getting some exposure to the many different keris styles) will certainly help you to get comfortable in the grey zone most of us mortals are stuck with collecting...

Regards,
Kai