Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ruudgroot
Thanks Ron, for your explanation. Do you know how old the keris is?
|
Hi Ruudgroot. Welcome to the forum.
Judging even a rough age for keris can often be difficult, even with good photographs. Personally i would be willing to say that yours is antique, but even saying what century can be difficult with a blade form which changes so slightly through different periods and whose exacting details are sometimes made to conform to the designs of a previous era's model. Materials used can often give clues to age, but usually the keris must be in the hands of the expert to judge this as again photos don't tell the whole story (weight, texture, true color, hidden detail). Even in hand it might still be difficult to correctly judge a blade like yours that looks to be in need of a cleaning and restaining. Add to that the ever changing updating of dress as older sheaths and hilt wear out and i think you can begin to see the problem.
On the safe side i think you keris is at least 19th century. It looks like i nice solid keris. The hilt appears old as well, in a Jawa Demam form, but it would be nice to see some better, closer photos. Is it horn as Ron suggests, or wood? I concur with the past statements that this is probably a Sumatra blade that appears to have some Bugis influence. The sheath, if it hasn't been made clear enough, is not a keris sheath at all, but intended for a completely different type of weapon. I would love to see some closer shots of the blade as well to see what kind of activity you have going on there.