Silver Keris Coteng with old restoration

[Gustav]

I suppose the hilt repair is done locally.

The Sogokan are a bit long for a Javanese blade.

Nice hilt, even with a repair.

[David]

A very nice silver coteng hilt. The sheath repair is well done, but i really couldn't comment as to whether or not it was a local or European repair. Not exactly a "restoration" as missing pieces of the sheath have not been restored, but it has a nice quality look over all.
It is a shame about the missing gonjo. I personally have a hard time getting too excited about incomplete blades. You might be able to commission a replacement if the keris is an important one for you.
On luks i would count this as 11. The tip had obviously suffered some erosion to account for the confusion on your count.
I am afraid i don't understand what you mean by your comparison to Keris Pejetan. I see nothing in your blade from these photographs that looks like impressed fingertips.

[Sajen]

Hi Roland,

agree, it's a very interesting coteng with all the repairs, equal if done locally or later in Europe. And I agree with the others, clearly a 11 luk blade, the last curve is worn.
And a very good observation from Gustav, the blade don't need to be a Java blade, it look more like an old Palembang blade IMVHO. To bad that the gonjo is missing.

David, I think that Roland mean with the comparison to pejetan that the blade has a sinus like wave along the length, I have seen this before and think that there is name also for a blade like this.

Regards,
Detlef

[A. G. Maisey]

In respect of blade origin:- I can see nothing in this blade that would militate against a Javanese origin. True, the sogokan are a little longer than usual for Jawa, but I have seen innumerable examples of variation from the norm in Javanese blades, and Balinese also, for that matter, not only in sogokan, but in all possible ways. Personally, I'd be happy to accept this as Javanese until it could be shown to be other than that.

[Gustav]

That what is left of the Ricikan details is insufficient for me to speculate about the orgin of this blade. Yet - if blades from Malay Peninsula do have Sogokan, it tend to be long.

[Roland_M]

Thanks for all the comments. Detlef (sajen) explained very well what I tried to say with "curved in z-direction".

There are 11 luk, thanks.

I investigated the blade with a microscope and it is very deeply corroded but the tip itself seems to have its original length. Hard to judge.
I will leave the blade as it is, it is too late for a repolishing.

My guess about the European restoration is because I believe, a silversmith in Indonesia knows how a Keris Coteng must look. Whatever, it is a felicitous restoration in my eyes.


Roland

[David]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

I investigated the blade with a microscope and it is very deeply corroded but the tip itself seems to have its original length. Hard to judge.
I will leave the blade as it is, it is too late for a repolishing.

My guess about the European restoration is because I believe, a silversmith in Indonesia knows how a Keris Coteng must look. Whatever, it is a felicitous restoration in my eyes.

Roland, if, as most seem to agree, this blade originated in Jawa it would not be correct to re-polish it anyway. Balinese blades were often polished after cleaning, but it is not the norm for keris in general.
The sheath here was obviously damaged and is missing parts of the original wood. I don't believe that an Indonesian silversmith would have been capable of making a repair that returned this sheath to its original and intended shape as a coteng sheath. So i'm not convinced that is evidence of where this repair was actually done. It could still be Indonesian work as easily as European IMO. In most cases, if the owner of this keris had the money, a new sheath would have been commissioned. It this case it would seem they did not.