BEATIFUL KERIS!!

[carlos]

WHAT ARE YOUR OPINION ABOUT THIS KERIS? HORN, IVORY, A BEATIFUL PIECE!!
CARLOS

[carlos]

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/2140/dsc000471gn5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Emanuel]

Wow what dapur is that? I won't even try counting the luks. I like the stacked horn/ivory sarong and smooth flow of the wrongko. The trace of pamor and the ada-ada looks like it runs straight down the length of the blade instead of following the luks. Could the waves be ground instead of forged?
Someone else posted a keris and a sewar in a similar dress a while ado...the combination was quite beautiful. Is this a Malay keris?

Emanuel

[Pusaka]

Looks to me that the luk are ground out. In your photo I think I can see a vein through the center of the blade, if so is the pamor line going down the length of the blade straight or does it wave side to side following the geometry of the luk? If it is straight it confirms that the luk were cut out of the blade rather then forged.

[kai]

I'm afraid Emanuel is on the right track with this one... :(
BTW, I'm counting 40 luk which wouldn't a good omen either. ;)

Maybe our Madurese friends again? :rolleyes:

Carlos, could you please post a close-up from the base of the blade?

Regards,
Kai

[Alam Shah]

I'm afraid Emanuel is on the right track with this one... :(I agree with Emanuel's observations.
BTW, I'm counting 40 luk which wouldn't a good omen either. ;) I counted 41 luks. :) The sheath's 'stacked' construction is nice and rather unique, reminds me of BluErf's panjang... but that's were the similarity ends.

Carlos, could you please post a close-up from the base of the blade?Some features requires close-up. I second Kai's request and also request for a close up of the hilt, sheath's cross-piece, an area of the sheath's stacked construction and the sheath's end-piece. These should gives us a pretty good idea of the piece. :D

[Pusaka]

LOL……I really should read others posts before I post, just read Emanuel’s post ……..good observations Emanuel LOL :D

[Emanuel]

Woohoo concensus!! :D
Looks like I learned something after two years on this forum :)

I've seen a number of new keris on ebay with high numbers of luks, often advertised as being from kalimantan/Borneo. Are numerous luks desirable these days or is it still just for tourist appeal? Odd for a ground blade to come with an ivory (or bone?) dress.

There are some light artefacts on the pictures, it would indeed be good to see close-ups.

Emanuel

[Battara]

I also noticed that there seems to be simple silver inlay at the base of the blade and the luk look awefully sharp and pointed, like luk found on modern tourist Moro kris (near Borneo).

[Pangeran Datu]

Woohoo concensus!! :D
Looks like I learned something after two years on this forum :)

I've seen a number of new keris on ebay with high numbers of luks, often advertised as being from kalimantan/Borneo. Are numerous luks desirable these days or is it still just for tourist appeal? Odd for a ground blade to come with an ivory (or bone?) dress.

There are some light artefacts on the pictures, it would indeed be good to see close-ups.

Emanuel

G'day mateys,

- I agree with the previous comments.

- There are those who believe that in custom-made kerises, the number of Eluks reflect the quality/status of the wearer/owner. The higher the number of Eluks, the better.
Having said this, I hasten to add that kerises with more than 13 Eluks are relatively uncommon.
When examining kerises with more than 13 Eluks, I tend to proceed with caution.
When examining kerises with MORE than 29 Eluks, I proceed with EXTRA caution.

- These days, it isn't hard to find total dresses for kerises made of bone, ivory or indeed fossil molar (the raw materials being all legally traded).

- Have you tested for bone/ivory using the 'hot needle' test?

- 'Where there is a perceived market, there WILL be a product'.

- Please correct me if I'm wrong but, as I understand it, keris-making, especially in places like Brunei, enjoy the patronage of the state. In fact, I believe that the patronage may be of such a level that what is unsold commercially is bought by the state, ensuring a steady livelihood for the keris-makers (and hence the preservation of the art). Thus there is incentive for these keris-makers to be creative and enterprising.:)

- As for the Dapur, it resembles the straight keris dapurs: Dungkul, Regol or Sepang (hard to tell from the picture).

Cheers.