20th century keris?

[NotoriousCal]

I'M not sure if my other post came through, but this one seems to be the same type. Do you know what it is made from? I read that railroad track is some times used in making keris.

[kai]

Hello Cal,

You're making sure not to show keris that are currently for sale, aren't you? (If not, this should be taken to PM/email - a general rule to protect the forum.)

I'M not sure if my other post came through, but this one seems to be the same type. Do you know what it is made from? I read that railroad track is some times used in making keris.

This is an uncleaned blade that is completely out of stain. You just can't expect anyone to give you a defensible answer on what it was actually made from, especially without being able to examine it personally under magnification...

Sometimes even from the worst ePray pics, something can be guesstimated and you can then decide whether to place a bid but this is still very much a gamble, even for experienced folks (and some even more experienced folks don't buy pieces they haven't examined personally). Vague hints in the pic of the middle section of the blade may suggest that this blade is probably laminated; obviously, it has lost a lot of its substance due to erosion from rust and repeated cleaning and/or warangan treatments - it's pretty much a ghost blade which will probably show some remaining patches of pamor; it's quite possible that the pamor left will be quite disappointing though.

I'm not sure what you mean by "same type" - the keris posted first is from Bali and the second from Jawa; one might argue that you're already comparing oranges to lemons...

The only similarity I see is the extension of the kruwingan to the end of the sogokan; note though that the Bali blade only has a single sogokan while the Jawa blade has two.

Regards,
Kai