Weird eBay Win
 

Ebay Item

Okay, so a couple of days ago I saw this weird keris - the price was low, it looked sort of odd, I had no idea about that pamour (tourist stuff?) - but I said, "What the heck?" and bid $15.

Well it's mine now. Anybody want to tell me what the heck it is?

Thanks,
Dan

Puuh, badly tourist Bali keris! The pamor isn't real but etched or painted. Sorry for the bad news! :shrug:

Regards,

Detlef

Not bad news - in fact, that's what I thought. For that amount of money, I don't care...

Yep, this is not really deserving of the name keris since it is not produced with any traditional methods. We sometimes say keris-like object (KLO). :D
Frankly i have often thought it might be fun to have one of these in the collection just for fun. That is probably about all i would be will to pay for it so i hope he doesn't want much for the shipping. :)

I didn't bid to win, so it's a lark - I've wasted more money on worse junk!

Yeah, it'll be fun to play with.

I've seen these described as "dance krises", for dance performers to wear/wield, rather than tourist KLOs. Is there truth to this?

I bought a cheap one once, to put up on my office wall, free from objections about having weapons in one's office. (Also a nice wooden-bladed parang.) Still need to drill some holes. I had enough of drilling after putting up my bow rack, so haven't done it yet!

No Timo, I wouldn't call these "dance" keris. I do have an unsubstantiated theory that this form of dress may have developed out of a form specific to dance keris. Though the blades in those sheaths are simple they are genuinely forged blades.
Here's some old photos of dance keris in action. I believe all the keris you see in these photos are legitimate keris.