51 luk keris with Naga

A. G. Maisey · 12th July 2008, 07:03 AM

Shahrial, the resurgence of interest in the keris that took place in the late 1970's generated the current era production, however, to the best of my knowledge, alterations, additions, and outright forgeries have always been a part of the keris trade.

The very first keris I bought in Indonesia, in Jakarta from a salesman in the front yard of the hotel where I was staying, was an alteration:- a very, very 4th rate keris that had had a singo barong added to it, and a lot of kinatah work, the principal purpose of which was to hide the joint. That was near 40 years ago.

That keris was only the first alteration that I bought, I took me years to learn how to identify altered keris---years and years and years. Even after I thought I was pretty smart at this game, I was still tricked; I didn't find this alteration until I got home, but I kept it anyway, because it is so very, very clever. No ahli keris who has examined this keris has picked the alteration until shown where it was.It is by the look of it a very old alteration, my guess would be over 100 years old.

According to Pak Parman there have been people altering and remanufacturing keris for at least a couple of hundred years.

I'm uncertain when the fashion that calls for new keris to be made to look old came into vogue. I suspect that it could be a pretty recent trend, as keris from pre-WWII do not appear to have been subjected to this treatment.

As to keris size in Jawa, amongst old keris there are some very big Tuban blades around, you will see the occasional super-size good quality keris from Surakarta, and the keris panjang also occurred in Jawa, but it is very seldom seen. In fact I haven't seen one now in years. You find a smattering of big East Javanese keris, too.

sjors · 12th July 2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

I believe originally the keris used to be straight one and was filed to create the 51 luks

Like this? Yes, altering still happens

David · 12th July 2008, 03:06 PM

OMG! Yep, that looks like the source material alright. Where did you find this photo?

sjors · 12th July 2008, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Where did you find this photo?

To be honest, I used Photoshop

sjors · 12th July 2008, 03:57 PM

Change the original (picture) in something else...That's what I call a "shopped" keris

David · 12th July 2008, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjors

Change the original (picture) in something else...That's what I call a "shopped" keris

YOU DOG!!!

Nice job.

sjors · 12th July 2008, 07:24 PM

Alam Shah · 12th July 2008, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

... According to Pak Parman there have been people altering and remanufacturing keris for at least a couple of hundred years.

As to keris size in Jawa, amongst old keris there are some very big Tuban blades around, you will see the occasional super-size good quality keris from Surakarta, and the keris panjang also occurred in Jawa, but it is very seldom seen. In fact I haven't seen one now in years. You find a smattering of big East Javanese keris, too.

Thanks Alan for the info and the insight.

I guess the big Tuban keris were found to be ideal for alterations. What is the length of these longer pieces? What are the features of the Javanese keris panjang? If anyone have pictures of the Javanese keris panjang, please do share. Thanks.

12th July 2008, 03:57 PM	#5
sjors Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 68	Change the original (picture) in something else...That's what I call a "shopped" keris Attached Images

12th July 2008, 07:03 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	Shahrial, the resurgence of interest in the keris that took place in the late 1970's generated the current era production, however, to the best of my knowledge, alterations, additions, and outright forgeries have always been a part of the keris trade. The very first keris I bought in Indonesia, in Jakarta from a salesman in the front yard of the hotel where I was staying, was an alteration:- a very, very 4th rate keris that had had a singo barong added to it, and a lot of kinatah work, the principal purpose of which was to hide the joint. That was near 40 years ago. That keris was only the first alteration that I bought, I took me years to learn how to identify altered keris---years and years and years. Even after I thought I was pretty smart at this game, I was still tricked; I didn't find this alteration until I got home, but I kept it anyway, because it is so very, very clever. No ahli keris who has examined this keris has picked the alteration until shown where it was.It is by the look of it a very old alteration, my guess would be over 100 years old. According to Pak Parman there have been people altering and remanufacturing keris for at least a couple of hundred years. I'm uncertain when the fashion that calls for new keris to be made to look old came into vogue. I suspect that it could be a pretty recent trend, as keris from pre-WWII do not appear to have been subjected to this treatment. As to keris size in Jawa, amongst old keris there are some very big Tuban blades around, you will see the occasional super-size good quality keris from Surakarta, and the keris panjang also occurred in Jawa, but it is very seldom seen. In fact I haven't seen one now in years. You find a smattering of big East Javanese keris, too.

12th July 2008, 03:06 PM	#3
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,212	OMG! Yep, that looks like the source material alright. Where did you find this photo?

12th July 2008, 07:24 PM	#7
sjors Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 68