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10th January 2021, 03:17 AM | #1 |
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Welcome to the forum Max.
A nice old Madura/East Jawa keris. The ivory hilt looks like Kojuk Mrenges, though in a less detailed form. It seems to have some age. Is the base wood or horn. It is possible it is a newer part to replace damaged ivory at the original base of this hilt. The top sheath is a wood i have seen before but can't name. Maybe someone here knows. This style of top sheath is a bit of a village folk art as far as i understand it. I like this carving. The motif is Si Mega, the mythical winged horse. It is regional emblem for Sumenup. The gandar (stem) of the sheath looks newer than the atasan. The wear and the carving skills look different. But that shouldn't bother you. Honestly your photos of the blade aren't very good for analysis, but the blade looks like the oldest part of the ensemble and seems to have been fairly well constructed. I would say it was probably an 11 luk blade, though it seems to have lost it's final luk over time along with its finer details. It would be nice to see this blade cleared and re-stained to reveal the pamor better. If this were mine i would probably replace the flattened mendak (metal hilt ring) with a new bit of jewelry. |
10th January 2021, 09:13 AM | #2 |
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I agree with what David said, the scabbard is in Madurese deng-udengan or gabilan style.
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11th January 2021, 12:26 AM | #3 |
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Welcome maximummason!
With regards to David's suggestion about cleaning and staining, you may find these threads useful: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=23934 http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25562 For more, I suggest you to use the search function to find out more about how to do that. but the two above should be more than enough to get started. The cleaning should be simple and accessible to anyone, but a good staining job, depending on where you live and what you can access, will be difficult. This is because traditionally in Indonesia "warangan" is used, which is a mineral containing high concentrations of arsenic. In lieu of that some on this forum use lab-grade arsenic trioxide which is inaccessible to most. It is worth noting too that a thorough cleaning, which will invariably involve a light acid such as cooking vinegar, will remove whatever is left of the stain that is already on this keris. You could always start with giving it a scrub with a toothbrush and dishwashing detergent then drying it thoroughly using a lint free cloth then a blowdryer. |
16th January 2021, 08:32 PM | #4 | |
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11th January 2021, 12:28 AM | #5 | |
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12th January 2021, 09:36 PM | #6 |
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Many thanks to those of you who replied to me. I appreciate it greatly and apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I believed that it would send me an email when someone replied, but it did not.
If by the base you are referring to the top part of the hilt, then I believe it is a dark wood material! If you would like me to attach more specific photos of the blade, I would be happy to do that! Anything to get some more information on the Kris. Thank you for the suggestions on cleaning it. I will start off with a toothbrush and slowly see if I can remove some of the staining. If I can ask one more question, why are there holes in the grip of the Kris? Were those intentional? Many thanks for your thoughts and time again. |
17th January 2021, 11:00 PM | #7 | |
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17th January 2021, 11:53 PM | #8 | |
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19th January 2021, 12:17 AM | #9 | |
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Has this blade been cleaned to the point it is hard to guess dapor? I was playing around with Tammens and could find a suitable match, but that is a condensed list if I am not mistaken. Last edited by Interested Party; 19th January 2021 at 12:27 AM. |
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19th January 2021, 03:10 AM | #10 |
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If this blade had been made in Surakarta style we could give it as dhapur Bandhotan. Since it is not Surakarta style it misses out on some of the characteristics that we expect to see in a Surakarta keris, but it is still probably close enough to use bandhotan.
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19th January 2021, 07:40 PM | #11 | |
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Also, from my perspective, bringing a new keris into the family is sort of like getting a new girl friend. If you like her enough you might want to buy her a new piece of jewelry. Again, there is nothing in this particular mendak that i see that makes it special enough to warrant saving. I have bought sterling silver ones with stone inclusions for $25USD and you can find fairly attractive cheaper ones as well. I just don't see why it would be worth the effort to try to restore this one unless you just really want the challenge and are open to the strong possibility of an unsatisfactory result. |
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20th January 2021, 05:40 AM | #12 |
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David, it might be crushed but with the angle of the photo I can't be sure. My eye for evaluation is still developing. As far as repair goes, I guess I tend to fix things, even things that aren't worth fixing. My friends actually make fun of me for the habit and the time I lose, but sometimes the results can't be duplicated by something new. Most of the silver mendaks I've seen online seem to be in Bali's style.
Last edited by Interested Party; 20th January 2021 at 01:28 PM. |
20th January 2021, 02:35 PM | #13 | |
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I won't provide any links to mendaks for sale online because that would break our rules, but if you just google "mendak keris" you will no doubt find many opinions for Javanese mendaks. I can be fairly certain the mendak on this keris has indeed been crushed flat because Javanese and Madurese mendaks have more width to them than what i can see. I cannot be sure of the exact style this mendak is, as there are many variations, but this mendak probably looked something like the one i have posted below. Bali keris rings are called uwer (or wewer) btw, though sometimes they are misidentified as "mendak". But my point here goes even a bit beyond whether or not you can restore this mendak (though i seriously doubt you could get a very good result), but more the idea that giving the blade a new mendak could be seen as something of a gift to MM's newly acquired keris, an honouring to the spirit of the keris and an acknowledgement of new ownership. Keris dress is often changed when a keris changes hands. It's just a matter of a different perspective i guess. Of course, if you are up for the challenge you could always exchange info with MM and he could send you this mendak so you can see what you can do with it. I'd love to see you be successful with such a project in spite of my doubts. |
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