keris for comment

[Mamat Lombok]

Dear forum ,
i think i have to say THANK YOU very much to all of you for the comments.
the blade look like bugis to me,but it just look alike,and i stil say it's LOMBOK.
hilt made of new ivory (elephant) .
also the pendhok is new made (gold)
the only old parts of them are : front wood (penyejer;timoho wood) and warangka (elephant ivory).
thank you.
regards,
mamat

[Paul B.]

Old topic but I'd like to join in because I have seen several (Bali) wrangka's with this brown striping (always back side) and wonder where this comes from?

Here is another poor quality pic I have found.

[Jean]

IMO this dark strip occurs because the carver used the outer rim of the elephant tusk which is more prone to decay especially on the back side which is in contact with the skin (traditional Balinese wear high in the back) or clothes. It may disappear or fade by applying a tooth whitening agent.
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Jean, it is the outer "skin" of the tusk, or at least this is what I have been told by carvers in both Solo and Bali.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Yes Jean, it is the outer "skin" of the tusk, or at least this is what I have been told by carvers in both Solo and Bali.

Thank you Alan. This is very detrimental to the aspect of the wrangka, can it be corrected without having to sand it according to your experience?
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Jean, my experience in this area is nil.

However, my uninformed opinion is that if we were to try to sand it out, we would destroy the flow of the wrongko, this darkness is on the reverse side of the atasan anyway; personally, I don't think it looks too bad. I'd simply accept it as a feature of the particular keris, neither desirable nor undesirable.

[Jean]

Thank you Alan. If I ever face such a situation, I would try to whiten the ivory by applying a concentrated hydrogen peroxyde solution.
Regards