Silver Keris

[Jean]

I do not wish to speculate about the age of this piece from the pics but would like to make the following observations:
. The silver color looks very clear, there is not much dark patina in the cavities which is typical of old silver artefacts. The silver quality seems excellent.
. I don't see much corrosion on the blade but some artificial pitting made by punching on the ganja and the pudak sategal on the sides of the blade around the kinatah.
. The kinatah fully covers the Ganesha figure but around the axe which he holds in one of his left hands there is a trace of gluing or welding which could indicate that the figure was added later.
. From my observations the "studs" on top of the ganja seem to be a recent javanese fashion.
. I have some quite recent silver krisses in which the wood core appears old and dry as this one.

Regards

[kai]

With precious metals any age estimation tends to be very tentative since newly pieces can be made to look old and genuine old pieces can look spanking new if repolished (or well preserved). Thus, we tend to look for a combination of craftsmanship, patina (if any), wear/damages, stylistic and other hints. However, none of these are really reliable since precious metals are fairly easy to be mended with...

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

I guess we all agree that these 2 hilts are of the same style.

Still, I'd be very cautious of any claims like same maker/workshop/school - successful designs tend to get copied very quickly!

My best guess would be that this non-traditional hilt reflects the European influence during the first half of the 20th century (up to Indonesian independence) in Bali (or, possibly less likely, Lombok). I can't rule out a Madurese origin nor Kota Gede work though.

Regards,
Kai
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Photo credits: left hand pic cropped from the catalog of the IFICAH exhibition (Weihrauch & al. 2015), copyright Günther Heckmann (IFICAH); right hand pic from Roland (post #1).

[kai]

The scabbard is certainly interesting and with 3 examples we have established an pattern...

Note that Roland's example has the tips curled inside while in the 2 examples from the IFICAH exhibition they are pointing outside. Moreover, the carved motifs of all 3 examples are very different!

Any hints for the buntut being a repair for a broken scabbard tip in your piece, Roland?

I'm not convinced that Jean's pendok has any relationship with these 3 discussed here. (Thanks for adding the pic!)

Regards,
Kai
--
Photo credits: left from Roland (post #1); middle & right hand pic cropped from the catalog of the IFICAH exhibition (Weihrauch & al. 2015), copyright Günther Heckmann.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kai

.... interesting and with 3 examples we have established an pattern....

Thank you Kai for posting the three examples side by side!

Originally Posted by kai

I'm not convinced that Jean's pendok has any relationship with these 3 discussed here. (Thanks for adding the pic!)

Agree with you, certainly no relationship with the three other examples.

Regards,
Detlef

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kai

I guess we all agree that these 2 hilts are of the same style.

Still, I'd be very cautious of any claims like same maker/workshop/school - successful designs tend to get copied very quickly!

My best guess would be that this non-traditional hilt reflects the European influence during the first half of the 20th century (up to Indonesian independence) in Bali (or, possibly less likely, Lombok). I can't rule out a Madurese origin nor Kota Gede work though.

Agree in all points with you!