keris good and bad?

[NotoriousCal]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

To emphasise what David has already said.

I am 76 years old, I began to collect keris at the age of 12, I began to seriously study keris at the age of 14, I studied with Empu Suparman Supowijoyo for about 15 years, I have numbered amongst my friends other well known empus, pande keris and m'ranggis.

I have a fair working knowledge of the Javanese and Madurese keris, I know a bit less about the Balinese keris, of other keris I know almost nothing.

Cal, if you wish to learn about the keris you can count on a very lengthy course of study.

However, that does not answer your question.

It is very difficult to judge the physical quality of a keris from photos. I am often asked to give an opinion on the quality of keris and I almost invariably qualify my answer by saying something like:- "--- my opinion could be very different if I held this keris in my hand ---".

If you buy on an auction site like ebay, you are backing your own judgement, and at your stage of learning, that would be a rather unwise thing to do. The wisest way for a beginner to buy is to seek out a reliable dealer who knows what he is selling, tell the dealer what you want and trust his judgement.

I've seen the evidence and I am intrigued. I'm just trying to narrow down a good starting point. Thank you for the work you have done. The only thing now is to find a good reliable dealer. Hint hint lol