Minangkabau(?) keris
My main interest is Islamic bladed weapons: from Caucasus and the Ottomans to India. Because I know next to nothing about keris, I humbly beg your forbearance and forgiveness: you are dealing with a newbie, who is far too old to learn new tricks.
Here is a keris that wandered into my home one night and asked for shelter.
I think it is Sumatra, Minangkabau ( if you say it is from Palembang I will not get insulted, too). The handle is made IMHO from a real fossilized elephant molar, not modern plastic fake. It is very heavy, and has a couple of old delaminations that were glued back. All solid now. The blade is straight and used to be covered in heavy black rust and grime. A lot of WD-40 and a touch of paper towels and the finest steel wool revealed that there was a real metal underneath:-) Can't see any pamor and don't want to employ sandpaper etc. I will leave that to the next owner.
The scabbard is covered in silver , with some losses close to the handle, not much, but still... Silver is heavily patinated. Again, I have a supremely gentle silver polish paste, but do not want to spoil the effect of aging. The end of the scabbard has a brass(?) fitting.
Questions:
- am I correct re. Minangkabau?
- age
-value ( not monetary, of course): is this one rare and respectable enough to brag about it, to hug it, and kiss it and to call it George?
- Is the straight blade without traces of pamor legit?
- am I correct re. elephant molar?
- selut looks pretty cheap. Does this keris deserve a new one? Any hints where can I find one?
Many thanks for any help.
Ariel
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