Keris Identification

[A. G. Maisey]

G'day Ferry,

I've lifted your full length blade pic and massaged it through Photoshop, but I'm sorry, I just cannot see enough detail to have a guess at the pamor.

In my opinion, and based upon what I can see in the photo, this is an old blade that has had the edges cleaned up, and has been reshaped.

Some people regard this as an undesirable practice, however, done skilfully, I do not. If an old blade is worth preserving, and this one is worth preserving, this is one way of ensuring its preservation. OK, its not a national treasure, but it is decent old blade, providing a shadow of its former self. There are two things you can do with a very deteriorated blade such as this one was:- you can clean it, stain it, oil it, put it in sandang walikat and effectively retire it, or you can clean up the edges, reshape it, and make it fit for use as a keris to be worn as an item of dress.

The wrongko is beautiful, and this type of wrongko is not seen all that often---its scarce.

The handle would be better replaced with an East Jawa one.

All in all, I reckon this is a pretty fair sort of keris.