Bali keris
 

Dear members ,
I just found this keris in Bali during a short trip with an " interesting " blade .
Very difficult even with the blade in hand to know if it is upgraded or original piece .
New hilt , nice aged Bali dress and etching very soon ....

Any opinion/comment regarding dapur and age will be much appreciated.

Thank you for your efforts !

Regards,
Henri

The relief at the keris gandhik, could be Airlangga (991 in Bali, and 1049 in Java). He was the only raja (king) of the Kingdom of Kahuripan, which was built out of the rubble of the Kingdom of Medang after the Srivijaya invasion. Picture of a relief below is the deified statue of King Airlangga depicted as Vishnu mounting Garuda, found in Candi (Temple) Belahan, collection of Trowulan Museum, East Java, Indonesia.

GANJAWULUNG

But I don't suppose the keris was from the same era of making... But anyhow, it is an interesting keris motif...

Thank you Ganjawulung for your input .

Cheers

Henri

I wonder if this blade had been 'revised' at some point later in its life . :shrug: :confused:

That's my feeling as well Rick... :shrug:

I'm seeing lots of (forging ?) flaws on one side of the blade ...... or are they from rust ??

The piece does not look overly topographic as old Jawa keris often do from repeated washing and re-stain .

Puzzling . :confused:

Well, i think it's needs a good cleaning and stain to really be able to properly assess the blade. Dirt and rust can easily hide revisions to blade profile.
As for not having a topographic surface, it is present in Bali dress. I'm not convinced that the blade's origins are Bali, but if it has been kept as a Bali keris over the years it would probably have received the Balinese approach of keeping the blade polished smooth.

Yes, it has not seen a lot of washing and was finished smooth; but why do we see such large cold shuts/forging flaws in a blade that appears so nicely carved at the sorsoran ? :confused:

I have my doubts as well, the forging flaws let me think that the gandhik is a later addition. :(

What would Alan say about this blade? I am puzzled also, the carved motif is quite impressive and from the pictures I don't see clearly any sign of welding and the metal colour looks the same as the blade? The shape of the ganja does not look Javanese? :confused:

Jean, Alan would prefer not to comment.

Everything you need to know is sitting right there in front of you, just look carefully and think.

Hi all
to my eye there is a clear differential line in the metal around the figural elements suggesting a piece has been welded in. The line I have drawn surrounds the area I would regard as suspect but is not actually on what I would think is the weld line. Also the metal close to the gonjo shows what appears to be some 'blistering'. The discoloring around the figural elements also suggests heating to me. I wonder if the splits/delamination are also because a piece has been welded in and the surrounding metal stressed but I have no understanding of metalwork so this is pure speculation.
drdavid

Another thing to think about: Why should have a blade with gilded gandhik area forging flaws? No serious empu or pande will finish such a blade!! ;)