Quote:
Originally Posted by David
As i stated before, truly esoteric and important keris blades are rarely shown, let alone photographed. So finding examples to fuel this discussion will be near impossible. And just because someone has said a keris is famous or powerful does not necessarily so.
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I will try to propose an exception to what David said about showing esoteric and important blades (at least for me).
However the blade in question is not a keris but a badik from Sulawesi previously belonging to a local ruler's family in Kalimantan.
The blade is old and the pamor pattern is indistinct, and I did not attempt to treat it but just polish it a little. The hilt is made from hippo ivory, the selut is from 22 kt gold filigree, and the scabbard from hippo ivory and a precious wood.
The story of this kris (which I could not witness myself but was reported to me by a reliable informant) is that it protected the house of its owner from burning while the 300 surrounding houses of the village were burned to the ground. What I could witness on the other hand is that after about 1 week after I acquired this piece, the whole village of Bontang was destroyed by a fire including the house of the seller who kept the badik in his custody!
Another part of the story is that this badik was normally not meant to be mine because of its original price and many people wanting to buy it, but I visited the seller just at the right moment as if there had been some magical influence...