Two peninsula keris patrem??

[David]

"Many of my Bali blades have a gonjo from pure iron (just black) while the blade have pamor."

I don't think this indictes that they are made of a different quality iron, just a part that contains no pamor. This was done in some cases, as i understand it, to hide any clues of what pamor your blade had for others while you blade was sheathed. It seems to me that most old Bali blades are like this so when i see a Bali blade described as old that does have pamor on the gonjo i am immediately suspicious.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

"Many of my Bali blades have a gonjo from pure iron (just black) while the blade have pamor."

I don't think this indictes that they are made of a different quality iron, just a part that contains no pamor. This was done in some cases, as i understand it, to hide any clues of what pamor your blade had for others while you blade was sheathed. It seems to me that most old Bali blades are like this so when i see a Bali blade described as old that does have pamor on the gonjo i am immediately suspicious.

Yes, you might be right again. And it is true, the most recent "Bali" blades have a gonjo with pamor. But I have also old blades where the gonjo have pamor.

Regards,

Detlef

[David]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Yes, you might be right again. And it is true, the most recent "Bali" blades have a gonjo with pamor. But I have also old blades where the gonjo have pamor.

Yes, is you look closely you will see that the iron on both the pamored blade and on the gonjo is the same iron, just lacking the inclusion of pamor on the gonjo.
If you look at your blade and gonjo you can see that they have a completely different grain structure, or at least it appears that way in the photos.
I have asked this question about pamorless Bali gonjos before and i don't think i have gotten any clear conclusions from it. I have seen some older Bali style blades that i believe are actually Lombok blades that do have pamor on the gonjo. I don't know when black gonjos became the popular thing in Bali, if it was an across the board rule or if there was a time previous when it was popular for Bali gonjos to have pamor.