Hello Gustav,
Congrats, nice score! I also do like the selut: quality seems quite above average!
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Actually quality/state of preservation of the blade wasn't acceptable for me, yet the whole was so interesting, that I decided to go for it.
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The blade doesn't look bad to me - quite some substance left, it seems?
IMVHO the ricikan look a bit rudimentary and were possibly never up to Jawa kraton quality standards though - however, this picture might change if you hypothesize major loss due to edge corrosion/repair...
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The blade is 32,5 cm long, pesi 5,2 cm. If pesi was cut, it happened a long time ago, there are no signs of this procedure left.
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Would also like to see the pesi!
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The blade fits perfectly in the sheath, at the mouth of the sheath as well as in the length.
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To me the crosspiece looks like a somewhat later replacement - how does it look inside?
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Sampir is made from black, very dense wood (Kenaung?).
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Are you sure this isn't dyed wood?
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My general question is the provenance of the blade: is this an older javanese blade, or could it perhaps be an old peninsular blade, perhaps a proto-Malela blade?
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It's not a Malela blade. I believe Detlef may be up to something: size and dhapur would fit quite well with Minang Kabau esthetics; also a wavy gonjo and Javanese-inspired ricikan (and pamor) are not that rare with Minang keris.
I wouldn't be surprised if this were a N Malay keris blade crafted with heavy Minang influence. Expat Minang have had quite a bit of social/political influence regionally (in Negri Sembilan).
Regards,
Kai