Featured Estate Sale Success!!

You integrate them into your space-nice.

 

@Any Jewelry -Should the rust on the Pottery's Keris blade be treated,stabilized or removed-or is this considered an important patina/mineralization ?
PS-If that is indeed considered 'rust' in Keris lore.

 

Those are scenes from the Hindu epic Ramayana.
It is the beginning of the story, where exiled king Rama is out hunting, and demon king Ravanna turns himself into a golden hind to lure Sita, Rama's wife, towards him to abduct her.
Jatayu, the king of the vultures, has witnessed the abduction but was unable to come to Sita's aid, so he warns Rama.

Lontar is a palm species native to Indonesia. These books are made from and named after the palm: lontar or lontar books.

The text is in Javanese Hanacaraka script.
Hanacaraka is related to other Brahmic (Hindu) scripts, but the letters are more curly and rounded, which is why it looks so elegant. It is said that the round shapes of the letters were developed to prevent tearing of the lontar leaves due to straight cuts in the leaf.

Chinese cash coins were used as secondary currency in parts of Indonesia, up til the mid-20th century. In Javanese they are called kepéng, a term that is generally used.
On Bali they are often used with religious items like lontar books.
The other end of the string would also have had a kepéng tied to it, so if you come across an old one, by all means use it to prevent the string from slipping out.
When closed, lontars are tied with the string, and kept in special boxes.
This is one of mine:

 

Very interesting, it was once a very nice and spiritual keris, probably owned by a Dukun (Shaman). The peksi or tang is wound with human hair, possibly the Dukun's own hair.
It is well made, with a nice curly elephant trunk on the base. It is 15 luk, 15 curves, which also indicates a spiritual purpose.
Don't worry about getting a hilt ring, the hilt shouldn't be taken off by someone who doesn't know how to deal with the spiritual side of the keris.

The hilt is of the cecekahan (cekahan) type, a Balinese type with a 'crinkled' look.

The sheath is perfect for the hilt, it is a beblatungan model, also called batun poh.
The wood of the 'ship' is made from 'kayu pelet', highly valued wood from the Kleinhovia tree, with staining caused by disease or fungal infestation in the wood. Selected woodcarvers used to damage the trees to cause the 'pelet' stains. Kayu pelet is only found in East Java, and was once worth more than gold. The affected Kleinhovia trees are now protected.

Both sheath and hilt can be owned by anyone, there are no caste restrictions. Castes are an important thing on Bali.

Unfortunately it is rust, and it has caused damage. It isn't patina, and it isn't the result of damascening. It is simply neglect.
As you can see, the edges of the keris have been eaten away by rust. Oil would stabilise it, but in my experience rust all over can't be reversed in such a way that you get a presentable keris. And then there are the rust 'nibbles'.

I would suggest giving the keris a bit of a treat by putting jasmine oil on it, using a soft brush. Ideally the brush strokes should go from the base, near the hilt, to the tip.
The wood could also do with some oil, it looks very dry and you don't want it to split. The sheath will probably get a lovely golden glow, and you'll have a special jewel in your home.

 

Yes, he does. A great sense of style and harmony.

 

@Any Jewelry you are simply the best.

Thank you for all this information. I will go about treating the keris and sheath and hilt as you outline here.

Thank you so much.

 

Note to self: find jasmine oil in case I run across a keris. I've already got my eyes peeled in case I find one some estate sale yahoos think is a letter opener!

 

Pottery found a Keris,I found a Kalis,plus there's lots on Ebay- it could happen to you Eve.I'd like to someday get my own table top distiller & make essential oils-they're pretty cheap.We've got lot's of Jasmine in the yard.

 

You can get unscented almond oil easily enough; that's the usual carrier oil. From what I gather the rest isn't too difficult.

 

For a keris you'd need Arabian jasmine, virtually the same as the Indonesian "melati".

Other options are sandalwood, frankincense or rose, all depending on the keris you have. Jasmine is safest if you don't know much about keris 'requirements'.

 

I think I have Sandalwood, Frankinsense and Rose all in the house already. I used to wear them as perfume. Maybe I'm a keris?

 

I don't know, are you possessed by a spirit, benign or otherwise?

 

Just the Holy Spirit. She doesn't have any special oils required.

 

In that case there is a slight chance you could be a keris, but let's check some other essential aspects: Are you made of iron, and forged by an 'empuh keris', a specialist keris smith?

 

I'm possibly iron-deficient and definitely high temperature-intolerant, so it sounds less and less likely.

 

Agree, I don't think you're a keris.

 

I just have good taste in essential oils.

 

But you do have a 'rapier wit'.

 

Some days more of a dull pocket knife.

 

-and some days a razor-sharp switchblade.