How old is this dagger? Why is the blade so black?

kronckew · 21st April 2022, 03:39 PM

It's a keris from Indonesia. It's black because they deliberately stain them that way with an arsenic bath. They use a pattern welding of different steel alloys, and some with nickel, sometimes in the best ones, meteoric high nickel iron alloys. The nickel doesn't stain, so it shows the pattern made by the smith, there are various named known patterns with specific traditional meanings.

You might want to read thru the keris forum threads for more detail. This probably should be moved to that forum. Their experts can give you more info on it's age, exactly where it was likely made, how they stain the blades, what the patterns mean, etc.

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21st April 2022, 03:39 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,227	It's a keris from Indonesia. It's black because they deliberately stain them that way with an arsenic bath. They use a pattern welding of different steel alloys, and some with nickel, sometimes in the best ones, meteoric high nickel iron alloys. The nickel doesn't stain, so it shows the pattern made by the smith, there are various named known patterns with specific traditional meanings. You might want to read thru the keris forum threads for more detail. This probably should be moved to that forum. Their experts can give you more info on it's age, exactly where it was likely made, how they stain the blades, what the patterns mean, etc.