# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Chinese, South-East Asia (CSEA) >  Help on Keris identification! :-)

## Marco Berini

Hello everyone, I purchased a Keris on an auction but I know nothing about these kind of weapons.. Can someone help me and tell me what kind of Keris is, from where, how old could it be and possibly the economic value? Thanks a lot.
Marco

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## Jhony Leung

Hi, 

An interesting kris, could you take some pics on :
1. Entire blade , we want to know the "luk"
2. Closer on scabbard , the motif not too clear
3. Closer on hilt

On your own opinion , what kind of material used on the hilt and decorative ( i mean decorative like "stone" ) , also the scabbard and it`s decorative material.

Providing that info , i think many kris colector could identify it ( i read some of their thread in SFI ) , really good thread.

Rgds
Jhony

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## Marco Berini

thanks for help. I can't take photos now but I attach some zoomed ones.. Hopefully they'll be good enough.

About materials: the hilt and the scabbard are both made of copper or some similar material, but the hilt has still some gold on it (around 50% of surface). The decorations of the hilt are made of resin, I guess. They are not stone, but rather plastic bubbles.

I hope this can help more...

Thanks
Marco

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## Jason Anstey

Hi Marco

It seems to be clearly Balinese in appearance based on the wooden scabbard shape and hilt carvings.

It is not uncommon to see pastes (resin stones) in these hilts.

I really can't tell you much more than that, I only offer this as no one else has given you more info.

The blade may indeed be old but would need a soaking in pineapple juice to see the pamour, after this it would need to be re-stained. 

But before you do anything though, pop over to the ethnographic sword forum at vikingsword.com, that place is teeming with experts on keris.

Cheers

Jason

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## Marco Berini

Hi everyone, I attach new photos... Thanks again to everyone!
marco

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## David Sorcher

Marco, you do indeed have an older keris there. It looks like average village work. The dress is problematic as the hilt is from Bali and the s sheath and mendak (metal ring) is from Jawa. The hilt is a fairly low end version of what many have identified as the Bayu, a Hindu wind god if i am not mistaken and those are indeed, as mentioned, pastes and/or glass profusions on a brass hilt that may or may not have been gold washed at some time. The blade origin i am not quite sure of, but i think i am more likely to see this as a Javanese keris that someone put a Bali hilt on because they didn't know any better. It is a 7 luk (curve) blade. The profile (dhapur) looks more Javanese to me. Age is always tricky to determine and i am no expert in telling, but i would not be surprised if this keris were as old as early 18th century. This does not appear to be the type of blade that tangguh really applies to though, making dating even more tricky. 
You could go through the trouble of acid washing this blade and staining it with warangan (arsenic and lime), but i don't think you will see a great deal of improvement in the pamor pattern of this particular piece.

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## David Sorcher

Actually i think the mendak on this keris is possibly from Madura and that there is also the possibility that the blade could be Madurese as well.   :Smilie:

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## Marco Berini

Thanks a lot, David, you provided plenty of useful information.. Just one more thing: do you have any idea about the market value of this Kris? I am not a collector and I'd like to decide if to keep it or not... It might be a "waste" in my hands, assuming it is interesting for Keris collectors...

thanks again
marco

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## David Sorcher

Hi Marco. The forum where i spend most of my time does not allow value assessments. I am not sure if it is the same here on sword forum, but to be on the safe side i will err on the side of safety.  :Smilie: 
I will say that as a collector of keris this would not be one that i would personally pursue for my collection. It is, indeed, an old blade, so it does have some historic value, but given the mish-mosh of regional styles between the blade, hilt and sheath and the fact the the hilt is a rather low grade version of the bayu hilt form (which is often real gold or silver with rubies and sapphires) it is not the type of keris that i would be drawn to. This isn't to say that glass and paste profusions aren't traditionally used on Bali keris. In fact they are quite acceptable and often you can find a glass profusion right next to a real ruby on a hilt of quality. But i don't see much quality in this particular hilt. 
If you are not a collector you might want to consider just putting it up on Ebay and see what happens. Good luck.  :Smilie:

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