Chieftain keris

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Raja Muda

I'm interested in the blade material. I've seen it in a lot of Bugis pieces as the iron has a rather silvery colour rather than the greyish tinge or approaching black hue found on other blades manufactured elsewhere in the region.

Is this the result of the blade not being acid stained, or due to some high nickel content in the base material perhaps?

Can someone enlighten me

Hello,
This blade was just scrubbed for removing the rust and would look completely different after warangan, see examples of Bugis blades before and after treatment.
Regards

[henri]

Bonjour Jean ( eh oui ! un peu francais moi ausi ! )
Did you mean this blade is made of alloy nickel iron and iron and
could show a pamor after waranga treatment ?
I haven t tried waranga thinking the peninsular origin of this blade
didn t allow this kind of alloy .
This one for me doesn t look like a bugis .

Henri

[Sajen]

Yes, it is a pamor blade. A lot of collectors don't like to etch (warangan) Bugis and Malay blades.

Regards,

Detlef

[David]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Yes, it is a pamor blade. A lot of collectors don't like to etch (warangan) Bugis and Malay blades.

Yes, this is definitely a pamor blade and i'd say this blade certainly shows Bugis influence. As for staining (warangan), i am still unclear as to whether leaving Bugis and Malay blades unstained is a matter of tradition or simply contemporary collector's tastes. I have seen nothing definitive on the actual tradition. I have seen them treated both ways. My personal inclination is to stain a blade that has a nice pattern to show. Malay blades are less likely to have a pamor, but some Bugis style blades like yours show beautiful pattern and it seems a shame not to allow them to present themselves clearly.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

Yes, this is definitely a pamor blade and i'd say this blade certainly shows Bugis influence. As for staining (warangan), i am still unclear as to whether leaving Bugis and Malay blades unstained is a matter of tradition or simply contemporary collector's tastes. I have seen nothing definitive on the actual tradition. I have seen them treated both ways. My personal inclination is to stain a blade that has a nice pattern to show. Malay blades are less likely to have a pamor, but some Bugis style blades like yours show beautiful pattern and it seems a shame not to allow them to present themselves clearly.

Agree complete with you David!!

[Jean]

I also fully agree with David.
Regards

[henri]

All right . Will etch and post some photos soon .
Thank you all for your inputs . I am still a bit confused for the origin : Bugis or Keris selit peninsular but I will do some homework to get a reply .
Henri