11th April 2018, 05:10 AM | #1 |
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Location: Minneapolis,MN
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A North Coast Javanese Keris with a Raksasa hilt for comment
Hello All,
I just picked up this keris from epray for a surprisingly low price. I think it's from the North coast. My first instinct is that it has some real age, but I'm often wrong on such things. The Gayaman style sampir has a kendit stripe (though I think it might be dyed on). The ukiran is a lot of what attracted me to the keris. To my eye, it looks stylistically closer to older ones, rather than modern Cirebon raksasa hilts (it lacks the "hunch-back" you often see on this), but there's a good possibility I'm wrong on this. The filigreed selut is almost certainly a latter addition, though it is pretty. At some point, maybe 20+ years in the past, some bozo decided to glue the peksi into the ukiran, the mendak to the selut, and the gandar into the pendok. I was able to remove much of this, though some is still present on the mendak (visible in one of the photos).Through slow, deliberate work, I was able to get the peksi out of the ukiran, but it was stressful, I've snapped a peksi before). The blade looks old (but perhaps it is artificially aged). Evidence of Pamor is visible, and the blade seems to be starting to delaminate near the tip. I have done a light cleaning since receiving it (and drenching the blade in wd-40) What do people think? Is my thinking correct, or totally off base. Any other comments or thoughts are as always welcome. Thanks, Leif Last edited by Rafngard; 11th April 2018 at 11:59 AM. |
11th April 2018, 01:00 PM | #2 | |||||
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Hello Leif,
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Your hilt isn't one of the early pieces; however, it seems carved fairly well for the later examples; I can't comment on its likely age. Even with a little of the hair broken off, it's the main prize here! Close-ups from all 4 sides of the hilt would be great for in-depth analysis. Quote:
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Regards, Kai |
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11th April 2018, 03:04 PM | #3 |
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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, 06:06 PM | #4 |
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Agree with everything what's said already. All parts don't belong together but I think that the seller (who is a member of this forum also) don't put it together like this, it will be a mismatch from a former owner/dealer.
Regards, Detlef |
13th April 2018, 03:58 AM | #5 | |||
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An initial examination didn't reveal anything odd. I'll check it out with magnification in the near future. Quote:
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Thank you for all your comments Kai! Thanks, Leif |
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13th April 2018, 04:02 AM | #6 | ||
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Thanks for all your comments David! Thanks, Leif |
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13th April 2018, 04:04 AM | #7 | |
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The seller did seem both very knowledge about and honest in their listing. I guess I'm not surprised that their a member! Thanks for your comments Detlef! Thanks, Leif |
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13th April 2018, 09:52 AM | #8 |
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The hilt is finely carved but a recent piece from Madura IMO, it lacks the charm of old pieces (stiff design). I would also try to remove the selut which is not suitable.
Regards |
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