Balinese/Lombok Keris for comments

[David]

An interesting keris Athanase. Can you tell us how long the blade is as it looks shorter than the norm for Bali blades? I also have a similar keris in that it is Bali/Lombok with old sunggingan (painted sheath) and the blade is particularly short for a Bali keris though the sarong is normal size just like this one seems to be. I agree that this, just like my own, once had a form of pendok, the Balinese type that covers just the back and sides and leaves the front open to expose the wood.
Mine also has a Tapukan style hilt like yours with a hair wrapping and has red paint on the wood as well to match the painted sheath.
My feeling is that these shorter keris are in normal large size Bali sheaths to accommodate the normal method of wearing the keris. I'm not sure about the significance of the shorter blades. They do not seem like patrems, but there must be some significance to the shorter lengths i would imagine. It does seem the the larger lengths on Bali keris is more of a later development though, so maybe these are older blades being fitted for the normal customs of wear over time.
I am afraid that i do not have too may photos of mine currently, but here are a couple of shots i have for comparison.