Need advice on this keris I got from eBay

Azman · 2nd September 2024, 10:50 PM

This one is longer and it has a beautiful warangka. The blade looks like it’s gorge from steel and has some coating on it. Alimony looks like varnish. Hopefully it’s not some kind of poison like ‘getah damak ‘ which was used those days for poisoning arrow tip and tombak or spear. I was told by the seller that this was from 1900 to 1940 range but who knows. It looks so much sturdy and I think almost like a katana blade. It’s longer too, almost 14.5 inch blade. I can tell it has been forge with layered metal but it has no pamor and the surface is not like a typical keris roughness. It’s much smoother. What is your view in this interesting sundang?

A. G. Maisey · 3rd September 2024, 12:38 AM

Javanese, dhapur brojol, possibly classification (tangguh) Tuban, blade probably before 1900, needs a clean & stain.

This is a keris, it is not a sundang.

Incidentally, "getah damak" in Malay means "blowpipe gum" > "getah" is natural latex, tree gum, a "damak" is the dart used in a blowpipe, by itself this stuff is not poisonous, but to make it poisonous the sap of the ipoh/ipuh tree is added to it.

Azman · 3rd September 2024, 04:25 AM

Thank you Maisey. Wow…never thought that this keris could be this old. I’ll try to clean it.By the way, can you detect any kind of pamor on this keris?

2nd September 2024, 10:50 PM	#1
Azman Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 15	My Second Keris from eBay This one is longer and it has a beautiful warangka. The blade looks like it’s gorge from steel and has some coating on it. Alimony looks like varnish. Hopefully it’s not some kind of poison like ‘getah damak ‘ which was used those days for poisoning arrow tip and tombak or spear. I was told by the seller that this was from 1900 to 1940 range but who knows. It looks so much sturdy and I think almost like a katana blade. It’s longer too, almost 14.5 inch blade. I can tell it has been forge with layered metal but it has no pamor and the surface is not like a typical keris roughness. It’s much smoother. What is your view in this interesting sundang? Attached Images

3rd September 2024, 12:38 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,085	Javanese, dhapur brojol, possibly classification (tangguh) Tuban, blade probably before 1900, needs a clean & stain. This is a keris, it is not a sundang. Incidentally, "getah damak" in Malay means "blowpipe gum" > "getah" is natural latex, tree gum, a "damak" is the dart used in a blowpipe, by itself this stuff is not poisonous, but to make it poisonous the sap of the ipoh/ipuh tree is added to it. Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 3rd September 2024 at 12:58 AM.

3rd September 2024, 04:25 AM	#3
Azman Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 15	Thank you Maisey. Wow…never thought that this keris could be this old. I’ll try to clean it.By the way, can you detect any kind of pamor on this keris? Last edited by Azman; 3rd September 2024 at 06:27 AM.