Thanks for adding your observations Alan. Charles has since added a few more photos that would indeed put us in agreement about this keris. I also agree that "twisted core" is probably a misnomer, but like a few other terms that get thrown around in the collector world it has indeed become the descriptor for this type of forging. Is there a Madurese/Javanese name for this pamor that you are aware of?
The new photos do seem to reveal that this is not an original ensemble. Nothing really unusual about that, but does change some of my thinking on it. I am inclined to see this as an older Madura keris, rather than kamardikan. The age and wear looks genuine to my eyes as far as the photos tell. But as Alan reminds us, in hand it might reveal a different story. Alan has certainly seen and handled far more blades from this region than i. While i have certainly seen pamor like this with kamardikan keris, for me it seems to be a less common in old Madura blades. May not be the best control of this pattern, but from my perspective i would still consider this a desirable keris.
|