new keris for comment

[CollectingNewbie]

I have not received it here yet, it should be here at the latest by monday at which time I will take better pictures. But heres some sections from the larger picture, more of a close up view.

[CollectingNewbie]

finaly got it here and took some better pics it is much much larger then any keris ive ever owned and it only cost me 35.00 us

[Newsteel]

Can we have a close-up on the top shealth (wrangka). Would like to see the patterns of timoho wood.

[CollectingNewbie]

heres the best i could do

[David]

Originally Posted by CollectingNewbie

finaly got it here and took some better pics it is much much larger then any keris ive ever owned and it only cost me 35.00 us

Well, size is not really a factor with keris pricing per se, but i would say you got a sweet deal on this one per inch.
Can you give us the demensions please?

[Newsteel]

It looks to me that the wrangka is not timoho. I could see the flashing grain like kemuning wood. The contrast dark/black pattern on the wood I found here is not like a typical timoho.

[David]

Originally Posted by Newsteel

It looks to me that the wrangka is not timoho. I could see the flashing grain like kemuning wood. The contrast dark/black pattern on the wood I found here is not like a typical timoho.

There are many different varieties of Timoho wood, some people believing that each type has it's own talismanic powers. I believe the spotting is referred to as "Pelet":
http://old.blades.free.fr/keris/intr...a/warangka.htm
That being said, this wood is sometimes faked with stains or paint. This is often easy to tell on close inspection. These photos are not very clear, so i wouldn't make any judgement from them.
Age is always a difficult thing to pin down with keris, especially solely from photos and even more so when the photos aren't that clear. Your keris doesn't appear to be a modern age contemporary keris, but it also doesn't seem too old. Could be late 19th - early 20th century.
It may just be the photos, but the hilt looks newer than the blade and the sheath.

[kai]

That being said, this wood is sometimes faked with stains or paint. This is often easy to tell on close inspection.

I'm pretty sure the contrasting wood is genuine: The spots along the edges are consistent on both adjoining surfaces which is very difficult to fake, especially if you keep an eye on the grain structure.

Regards,
Kai

[David]

I'm pretty sure i agree with you Kai. I was just trying to cover all the bases. If this were faked it is very well done.

[CollectingNewbie]

the blade is about 16 inches long and 2 inches wide, over all with the sheath its about 17 inches long, im pleased to say the lest does anyone know a best guess age on this peice, the seller had no information for me on this one