Bali Ivory Keris (eBay)

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Nice piece indeed and it would have fetched about 50% more in Europe. However and from the pictures I would not discard the possibility that the dark stains on the cross-piece and the gandar are actually dyed and not original.
Best regards

I don't think the photos are really good enough for me to make a determination like that, however, from my own logic i would put forth, why go to the trouble to adding an inlaid veneer of wood down the gandar if you are going to fake this with staining? As i stated before, these timoho veneers are fairly common because it is a rare wood and using less in a veneer down the front is both attractive and economical.