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Originally Posted by David
Welcome to the forum Treeslicer. I don't want to discourage you, but in all honesty i would find far more interest in the run-over cane toad.  
These poorly chiseled motifs are not uncommon and frankly i don't know where any useful discussion might go on this. Many real naga blades will have chiseling along the naga body to simulate snake scales. The differences between the carvings of the Bali keris you linked to and yours are pretty far apart for comparison though.  |
Thanks. It actually differs quite a bit from the usual line of "X" lackadaisically up the naga body as scales, the minimal leaf motifs added for a third of the way up the blade (as well as on the ganja), a few holes drilled here-and-there for "filligree", "surface pamor" added by rubbing stainless tableware over the blade, climaxed with a head that more resembles a mastiff than a naga, that one more usually sees. As I've previously noted, this example is no masterpiece, but, IMHO, it's not any closer to the common "souvenir" tradition than it is to KBA 12.
I've further reduced the comparison photo, so it would upload. The head on the comparison Naga Sasra is better than most, more like a Doberman than a mastiff, but the quality of the rendition of Semar on the handle suggests that the carver was not a superstitious person.