Metal Balinese hilt with sheath

[A. G. Maisey]

This is a very peculiar looking keris.

I will not speculate on this because there is absolutely nothing available to base speculation on, but this blade is most certainly not like anything I have ever seen, and I have seen one hell of a lot of keris.

[Paul B.]

The squarish pesi is unlike a keris tang should look like.

[kai]

Nah, it's Moro - just joking...

I stand by my comments from post #11.

Regards,
Kai

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

Nah, it's Moro - just joking...

Well, i understand why you followed that up with "just joking", but when i got a clear look at that tang it was the first thought that crossed my mind as well. Looks a helluva lot like a Moro kris tang.
This blade is quite an enigma. As Alan states, i've never seen anything quite like it. It has obviously been pattern welded and has pamor, but the work at the base is rather poor. You may well be correct that it never had a gonjo, but i wonder if that was the original intent. It seems to be an unfinished project. That or it is a re-worked piece. The tang looks weird beyond being flat like a Moro kris tang. It might just be the photos, but it looks like it might have been welded on rather than formed from the original billet.
Anyway, whatever this is i feel fairly confident now saying that i don't think this is a Bali keris.

[apolaki]

Originally Posted by David

Well, i understand why you followed that up with "just joking", but when i got a clear look at that tang it was the first thought that crossed my mind as well. Looks a helluva lot like a Moro kris tang.
This blade is quite an enigma. As Alan states, i've never seen anything quite like it. It has obviously been pattern welded and has pamor, but the work at the base is rather poor. You may well be correct that it never had a gonjo, but i wonder if that was the original intent. It seems to be an unfinished project. That or it is a re-worked piece. The tang looks weird beyond being flat like a Moro kris tang. It might just be the photos, but it looks like it might have been welded on rather than formed from the original billet.
Anyway, whatever this is i feel fairly confident now saying that i don't think this is a Bali keris.

There also seems to be alot of striation marks across the entire blade and the edges looked sharpened perhaps using an electric grinder tool. Could it be it was originally a Balinese blade that was reworked into the shape and condition it is now or is it a "missing link" between Indonesian keris & Moro kris?

[GIO]

This is a blade left at an intermediate phase of manufacturing. The pesi has still to be rounded, the lower part of the blade to be formed and the ganja inserted. You may refer to "The world of the javanese keris" by Garrettand Bronwen Solyom, page 8, bottom line, n. 17, 19 and 20. The photos well explain the manufacturing at this stade.