IFICAH funding sale at Czerny's

[David]

Searching through again i found most of the naga blades to be relatively new creations that i had little interest in. There are also many blades with kinatah that went for well under 200 euro including one that went for only 80 euro. So i don't think the materials made that much difference in this auction.
One of the keris i did quite like was #236. I might have actually bid on it, but didn't want to suffer the disappointing of having the ivory janggalan hilt confiscated in customs (a hilt form still not represented in my collection). But it was the entire ensemble that struck my fancy really. And it actually reached a more respectable price than most in this collection. You didn't happen to get this one, did you Jean?

[David]

Jean, did you notice the damage at the back waist of the hilt figure. The gold foil is cracked all the way across. It was only just pointed out to me.

[Jean]

You are right David about the low prices, it shows the lack of interest of European collectors for the keris (and too many pieces for sale), and the effect of the stupid ivory ban regulations. However some pieces with ivory scabbards were sold at much higher prices.
Regards

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Jean, did you notice the damage at the back waist of the hilt figure. The gold foil is cracked all the way across. It was only just pointed out to me.

These hilts on resin are very fragile, I had one broken during transport but fortunately it was nicely repaired by an Indian jeweler.
Regards

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

These hilts on resin are very fragile, I had one broken during transport but fortunately it was nicely repaired by an Indian jeweller.
Regards

Well, hopefully the new owner of this one knows an equally talented Indian jeweler.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Well, hopefully the new owner of this one knows an equally talented Indian jeweler.

I hope that he is just a rich benefactor for IFICAH.

Czerny's are usually quite careful/ conservative about their descriptions, although they often make mistakes about the origin of the pieces and the materials (ivory vs bone/ antler especially).
Regards

[mariusgmioc]

Imagine bidding, winning and paying 30000 Euro for a keris covered in solid gold, then find out is only gold plated...

[A. G. Maisey]

It does happen Marius.

What also happens is suasa (rose gold) being described as copper.

Auction houses often get things wrong, and I believe that they pretty much cover their inadequacies with what they put into the fine print of their catalogues.

I simply do not believe the descriptions that auction houses present.

This means that I would need to try to work out what I wanted to bid on from the photos, and frankly, I am not able to do that.

So I do not bid --- unless I can handle what I want to bid on.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Imagine bidding, winning and paying 30000 Euro for a keris covered in solid gold, then find out is only gold plated...

[David]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Imagine bidding, winning and paying 30000 Euro for a keris covered in solid gold, then find out is only gold plated...

To be clear Marius, the bidders final cost were more likely just a bit over $30,000 USD, not euros. I generally don't like spending too much time talking about money on this forum. I think people were all just scratching their heads a bit at first because the catalog description of this keris was very cautious, calling the materials only "yellow metal" that had been gilded. But if you noted my post #8, Czerny Auctions made a last minute announce on this keris claiming that the metal had tested as gold. I must say that at this point it seems unlikely that the dress is only gilded at this point. There would be legal ramifications for such a deception and they are a long standing and respected auction house.
What i would rather steer this conversation towards is the Auction House's claim that this is an "Important" keris. They stress this word "important" in the catalog description as well as their last minute social media update about gold content.
Given that is is a replica made at a date far removed from when keris in this original gold dress had some legitimate cultural meaning do members here also see this keris as being "important" in the world of keris and/or keris collecting? If so, why? Who would such elaborate replica dress have been made for at the start of the 20th century, especially assuming it is in fact solid gold? What function would it have served?