keris Minangkabau

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Yes I agree, the blade is more probably from South Sumatra than Bugis, but not Minang anyway.

Jean, Minangkabau keris are not my area of concentration. In fact i have no examples presently in my collection. So i am curious about identification. Many Minang blades i have seen are of the anak alang of keris bahari form, but i have seen others that are not. I do understand what Kai is saying about the bold pamor being somewhat Palembang-like, but i believe i can recall also seeing some Minang examples having bold pamor even if most do not. But when you dismiss this as being a Minang blade, can you explain your criteria so that we can better understand your reasoning?
As for the sheath stem, i agree that is probably a replacement since it does not terminate as we would expect the original gandar to on such dress. It doesn't really take much away from this lovely piece for me though. After all, when a sheath is damaged it must either be repaired or replaced. Perhaps this os not the best replacement stylistically, but i am willing to bet it looks a far bit better now then before they replaced it.
And i will repeat again, this is a lovely blade regardless of its exact origin.