Bugis keris

[nechesh]

Originally Posted by DAHenkel

Terengganu Americans?

LOL!

[Alam Shah]

Capt Smash's piece is "Balinese American". (Unique in its own class.)
At least its complete with a sheath and fittings.
In my opinion, Maduranese and Balinese pieces are much more varied than others.

[Bill]

Received the keris today & I'm quite happy with it. The holes have been helped along with a file. Likely done mid-20C with the dress as Dave has placed it. The dress is better than I expected, but nothing spectacular. There is conciderable loss to the blade & quite a bit of rust. Can this blade be South Sulawesi? Bought this blade because it struck me as simular craftsmanship of my "Moro" kris that I suspect is also from Sulawesi, can't say that I have changed my mind after putting them side by side. Quite surprised to find characters on the top of the ganga & specks of gold, coincidental with this current tread http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=432 . Saddly, there is also conciderable loss to this area of the ganga as well as quite a bit of dirt & rust. No animals, just characters, the work is so tiny, I'm amazed that it could even be done. As it is now, nothing is distinguishable, & a good cleaning will remove the last specks of gold as well as likely continue the loss of metal. Would be very interesting to find out if it is either Java or Bugis script.

[Alam Shah]

Well Bill, first and foremost, congrats. I wondered where this piece went.
Why not take a few shots and let us see this piece in its current condition.
The eBay pics does not tell much about the piece. Do a close-up on the script, please.
We can start commenting again from the top...

[Bill]

I'll take some pics tommorrow, in the sunlight. Have to stop buying swords & get a deceint camera though.

[rahman]

As a rank beginner, let me stir the pot a bit more

Bill -- you have what looks like a very sturdy blade, a sempana (9 lunk) with Nguku Bima. There may have been rust but not heavy corrosion, I think, that would have caused the two holes. They may have been made deliberately.

I say this quire confidently because I have a similar blade, only with heavier corrosion but still sturdy enough with no holes.

I think the ganja is not original to the blade, judging from the gap between it and the blade and the sudden flaring at the end.

I'm not sure if you have a central fuller (ada-ada) or is that a pamor line. If it's pamor, it would be called Nerjang Landep, a line that ran off track before reaching the tip. The esoterics will say it's a keris that brings a lot of misunderstanding and strife (see, it's already happening in this thread )

Again, those 2 holes may have a mystical function and I find it rare to find comboings with two holes, as most are really forging defects that cause a single crack or hole.

Regardless of its nationality I think you may have a keris with some mystical properties/functions.

I too was attracted to this keris when it was offered on e-bay -- until I say the combong. Not my cup of tea.
The sampir is quite good, I think with good grain. A good cleaning and a good waxing should bring this baby up.

All the best

[rahman]

As a rank beginner, let me stir the pot a bit more

Bill -- you have what looks like a very sturdy blade, a sempana (9 luk) with Nguku Bima. There may have been rust but not heavy corrosion, I think, that would have caused the two holes. They may have been made deliberately.

I say this quire confidently because I have a similar blade, only with heavier corrosion but still sturdy enough with no holes.

I think the ganja is not original to the blade, judging from the gap between it and the blade and the sudden flaring at the aring.

I'm not sure if you have a central fuller (ada-ada) or is that a pamor line. If it's pamor, it would be called Nerjang Landep, a line that runs off track before reaching the tip. The esoterics will say it's a keris that brings a lot of misunderstanding and strife (see, it's already happening in this thread )

Again, those 2 holes may have a mystical function and I find it rare to find comboings with two holes, as most are really forging defects that cause a single crack or hole.

Regardless of its nationality I think you may have a keris with some mystical properties/functions.

I too was attracted to this keris when it was offered on e-bay -- until I saw the combong. Not my cup of tea.

The sampir is quite good with good grain. A good cleaning and a good waxing should bring this baby up.

All the best

[rasdan]

There is a possibility that the holes are purposely made. Theres a javaneese dapur with both sogokan pierced through. I dont remember the name however. In the case of talismanic values, i believe the one mentioned in Van Duuren's book is "Combong". This one, IMHO is not combong. Combong happens when the lamination of a vertical pamor is not good enough. ie low heat. When it happens to a mlumah pamor, its pengat waja if im not mistaken. Combong is popular only to limited audience of malay collectors. Most Javaneese collecters regard this as a defect and of course reflects on the skill of the empu. Finally, im not sure about the nerjang landep, the pamor seems to be ok to me. If theres any mistake in my understandings, please correct me.

Regards,
Rasdan