Posted 11 years ago
alpo
(3 items)
I inherited this knife from my dad. From what I remember, he bought it at an antique store in London in the late 60s or early 70s.
He said the blade was stuck in a tree, where it absorbed the tree sap over a long period of time. If you were to be cut by it, you would get a bad infection. To be stabbed by it you would die indefinitely.
The knife is about 12" long end-to-end with a wooden handle and wood sheath.
I'm not sure if this is tribal, or just for tourists, or its value.
Malayan or Indonesian kris dagger.
Thank you, blunderbuss2, that looks pretty similar to what I have here - a great starting point. Value seems to range anywhere from $150 to $700 USD.
Update from someone who seems to know what he is talking about:
So far we are looking at a cross cultural "patrem keris"(a talismanic keris for woman), from Malaysia, combined with Sulawesi parts, late 19th century. The handle is standard Bugis style from Sulawesi and is not the original to the Peninsular blades, probably a dealer "marriage" .
Keris Patrem, or talisman keris for woman : the blade is mono-steel (not laminated folded steel as hig quality keris), of a very average quality, most probably first part of 20th century, considering some cultural mistakes in execution of sacred details on the "greneng" (the small guard with flamboyant profile supposedly to be a Javanese mantra, with a specific profile). The handle is older but from a different "keris culture"...Bugis people from Sulawesi. the small bronze fitting (called mendak) is probably from Sumatra.... As I mentioned before, we are looking at an composite keris, probably "prepared" by dealer. The value is between $150 to max $200; and very hard to sell, considering the fact that is not a high quality blade and the "composite" structure.