Balinese Keris Help
 

Hi, Could anyone help me determine age /authenticity of this keris?
Thanks.

Hi Jacob, welcome to the forum. Nice Bali keris. Authentic? Certainly. Looks to me to be mid -late 19thC, but it could be a bit older. Nice silver diety hilt. Most of the stones look real on there, including low-grade ruby and sapphire, and some other semi-precious stones. The mendak (hilt ring) looks like a newer addition and the "stones" there may be glass. The metal here is probably brass.The metal sheath cover appears to also be silver and is nicely repoussed. Nice blade as well. It could use a etch and restaining to raise the pamor pattern. All in all pretty nice. I certainly wouldn't mind owning it. :)

Thanks, Nechesh. This is the nicest one I have. Here is another one. I'm a little suspicious about this one, as the blade looks too new and perfect.

Jacob, i would say that this second one is newer than the first, but it is not a new blade. Could be early 20thC up until the 1940s, but i doubt any newer than that. This quality of keris doesn't really appear in post WWII Bali. Could you show a close-up of the gandik area (where the carved elephant head is)? The hilt on this one is also nice, but not like the first. I suspect this one may be silver plated brass as opposed to solid silver.

The hilt did not come with the keis. It had a relly crude wood one.

I would say with David that silver plated brass is involved. Both keris hilts look silver plated brass or white brass to me and newer. Nice work. The sheath of the first might very well be silver.

Both hilts do have greenish (like corroded copper) residue in recesses, more visible on the second. Does it mean they are both modern repros?

There is a balinese keris offered on e-bay right now:

(deleted , active auction)

The hilt looks like a combination Cecanginan and Gerantiman. Is it modern also?

Whoa! Jacob...forum rules, no posting of active auction item...:eek: .

Sorry, I'm new here. Is it legal to post pictures from the active item without the link?

They are still making keris there. Repros? - yes and real modern ones too. I think yours are not repros but modern ones. Repros are for tourists and are obvious in their horrible quality. Yours are not for the tourists and seem to be better crafted.

Regarding posting pics, it is better to post pics of "dead" auctions.

As Jose points out, the distinction between modern and repro can sometimes be a tricky one. One must consider that while certainly at a wanning point, the keris is still a living art form. I tend to agree that your first hilt is perhaps modern, but not what i would call a repro. The second is of a lesser quality.
These hilt are both in a very traditional form, but there are neither Cecanginan nor Gerantiman nor a combination of the two. I believe these are Bayu hilts, a representation of the god of wind.

Jacob, check your private message box. You've got mail. :)

I wonder how old is my avatar.

I don't think i would feel qualified to put an exact date on it. It certain shows age and has a nice patina, especially on the belly. :) It is a very nice carving and not a figure i can recall seeing exactly as such before. I love the figure's right hand position. Is the mendak that is with it gold w/rubies or is it just glass? It's always hard to tell such things w/ internet pictures. If they are rubies i would say they are fairly high end ones. Nice hilt regardless.

Hi Jacob. As Battara points out, it is better to wait for an auction to end before linking it or referencing it. However, photos can be posted if no auction reference is evident.

You might want to read this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4

Welcome to the forum. :)

Maybe It's A Stretch
 

Might Jacob's ukiran be a Balinese Ho Tai form ?

Now that the auction is over and it's legal to post: has anyone
seen a hilt like this before (combination Cecanginan and Gerantiman).

The nice hilt looks like a Tapukan style. Original by Balinese carving. Combinated with brass. It completely hilt.
I was bidding too for this keris at eBay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESO:IT

.... but I lost it and have no lucky :)
Beautiful Balinese keris. Congratulations, Jacob.

Regards,
Mans.

You know I looked at this piece and it appeared to me to be new work .

Would you please give me some reason about new work, Rick ?
In my eyes, it is beautiful balinese keris with nice pamor. Not to old, I think made about CA19th and it has good take care by the owner before. Looks so different between new iron with old piece.

Regards,
Mans.

Sometimes you just get a feeling .

I'm not saying that it isn't exquisite work or not worth the money paid .

It just looks new , the blade appears perfectly smooth yet it isn't polished .

The wood work on the ukiran looks softly carved rather than sharp carving that is worn with age and it seems ill fitted to the metal cap .

The pendokok may be older as it seems to show some staining .

The metalwork on the ukiran seems just not quite as good as it should be considering the overall impression this piece should make .

There seems to be no patina present on most of the piece .

These are just the observations of a Westerner and should be taken as such , an opinion .

Hi, Rick,
Sometimes we just got the feeling, but actually we should know about the blade, ironwork and pamor.
Often we interested about the keris because we look that a keris used an nice old scabbard and accesories like pendok and hilt. But actually we bought a new keris or common keris which have no special characteristic.
Or, often we try to justifying that the keris is new just because it have a completly or intact ricikan like greneng, ron dha or kembang kacang, but actually this keris is old and has good take care before.

This keris which last posted look so nice for me. The blade look made by good ironwork. I think it made about middle to end of CA19th, not older, but it is not a new made. The scabbard look handsome ;) and used an old pendok from silver. About the hilt and silver fitting, I don't have any idea how old it is :confused: But I think it is an original Balinese hilt.

Westerner or easterner whose interest about keris look the same for me.
They have many reason and knowledge how to give opinion about it. And I try to learn more from all of them :)

Best Regards,
Mans.

Up to you !

mans ,.. don't argue..
...thts useless....

let people say whatever they wanna say,,,..


im out....

I agree Mans. I'm so uninformed when it comes to keris, that I eagerly read everyone's opinions. :)

Sang, I don't think Rick and Mans were arguing. It seemed like a respectful disagreement and discussion. Personally, I was hoping you'd come along and talk about your keris too.

It was quite a beautiful piece.

Sang , I'm sorry if you are offended by my observations , I will stand by my opinion though .

If this forum is for polite agreement only and not sharing differing observations and opinions then it is worthless and should be closed .

Hi guys,

I think Jacob still waiting for some good opinion, did you Jacob ? :)
I think Jacob have many nice Balinese keris, specifically keris which posted first. :rolleyes:

Regards,
Mans.

Mans ,
How do you know that Jacob purchased this piece ? :confused:

Dear Rick,
I think it is just small detective play :)
I saw in eBay that the winning bidder is : jcbxly from USA

and "Jacob" is the one who posted in this thread and asking about this keris..... so :rolleyes: I just supposed that "JCB" must be "Jacob" ;)
I think that is not too hard to figure it out ;)

To Jacob:
Sorry if I was saying about that. I hope you don't feel scruples about my suspicion :o

Till now, I don't have Balinese keris :o , so..., if someone posted the Balinese keris, I feel comfortable to hear the discussion about it.

Regards,
Mans