Is this a whale's tooth?

[kai]

Hello Harry,

Congrats, this is IMVHO a nice keris!

I will put this one down as bone.

It is regular bone (probably water buffalo) - the (not shown) base of the upper side shows the exposed porous inner side.

Whale bone tends to be more porous, polishing less smoothly, and less resistant to wear.

Stag tends to be more homogenous if selected and worked well.

The hilt is worn enough that it feels incredibly smooth. I am guessing it has some age. Do you think I would be way off to think it is early 20h?

Well polished bone can be very smooth to begin with; this is obviously well worn, too.

We don't know how long this keris has been out of regular use within the culture (and retired into a collection) which makes judging the age of any part based on wear unreliable. Given this disclaimer, I would not be surprised if this hilt were from the 19th century. First quarter of the 20th c. may be a good conservative estimate though.

Regards,
Kai