Bugis Keris?

[A. G. Maisey]

Blade tip form is legitimate Javanese:- ngahbah kopong --- "empty rice field".

Blade itself could well be North Coast Jawa

[blue lander]

Interesting! The shape of the tip does look rather deliberate rather than just a snapped off point.

Is it likely the blade has any pamor? I I've read the guides about soaking it in coconut water and whatnot, but I have a feeling this would need a complete restaining...

[A. G. Maisey]

We can probably say that this keris has pamor sanak, that is, very low contrast or no contrast pamor of iron only. I doubt that a clean and restain would be of much benefit.

[blue lander]

This just arrived in the mail, will take photos later. It smells heavily of citrus so I guess somebody was trying to keep it happy.

The sheath is definitely painted. There's a lot of paint on the blade itself around the ganja. So I think it was definitely painted at a later date.

[blue lander]

The patina on the blade is really thick and caked on. So I wiped the blade down with a lime slice and started rubbing it with a paper towel. Just from the lime and paper towel most of the patina came off. I'm trying to remove the paint of the ganja area with acetone.

The question is, what should I do about the hilt and scabbard? Wipe the paint off?

The blade has a ovoid cross section. It's pretty thick from hilt to tip. I know kerises are stabbing weapons, but this one really feels like a slasher. What with the blunt tip, the thick slightly curved blade, and the "hooked" hilt. It's more like a mini kris.

[blue lander]

Acetone isn't doing much to remove the paint from the blade. Any suggestions?

[blue lander]

I've had good success stripping the scabbard with rubbing alcohol. The wood's actually pretty nice! I still have a ways to go obviously. One side is more banged up than the other, which I guess is typical of a scabbard that's been worn for awhole.