Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - A North Coast Javanese Keris with a Raksasa comment

David · 11th April 2018, 03:04 PM

I find myself mostly in agreement with Kai.
The Kendit does not look particularly suspicious to me in the photo, but a close examination should tell you if it is real or dyed. Often the fungus isn't just on the surface of the wood. It should have some depth. So if you examine the inside of the sheath with a flashlight you should be able to see if the stripe goes through the wood.
I agree that the selut looks odd on this hilt. I would also remove it. Hopefully fitting it has not done any damage to the base of this hilt. It is a nice carving, but it does not appear particularly old to me. Carefully applied heat can often help is removing old glue so hopefully you will be able to get the selut off from the base of this hilt successfully.

11th April 2018, 03:04 PM	#3
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,025	I find myself mostly in agreement with Kai. The Kendit does not look particularly suspicious to me in the photo, but a close examination should tell you if it is real or dyed. Often the fungus isn't just on the surface of the wood. It should have some depth. So if you examine the inside of the sheath with a flashlight you should be able to see if the stripe goes through the wood. I agree that the selut looks odd on this hilt. I would also remove it. Hopefully fitting it has not done any damage to the base of this hilt. It is a nice carving, but it does not appear particularly old to me. Carefully applied heat can often help is removing old glue so hopefully you will be able to get the selut off from the base of this hilt successfully.