Antique Palembang KERIS " COMBONG " Sumatra 9 luk keris

This is a very nice and old 9 luk (wave) Palembang Keris from Sumatra (Sumatera), Indonesia. Sumatera is one of the biggest islands of Indonesia and know for his in habitants; amongst others the Batak tribes and the Minang kabau tribe. This Palembang Keris is from the Palembang area near to Malaysia and also with Malay influence.

This keris is a very nice example of a Palembang Keris and has still a very nice, outstanding visible pamor on the blade (see detailed pictures). Special about this pamor is that is has 2 colors as you can see on the pictures.
According to me this pamor type is Ngulit Semangka (watermelon skin). This pamor is considered to be very postive and give protection to its bearer/owner. This pamor is made by the Empu (keris forger) in the old days of Sumatra. Off course in real vision the pamor is more nice. I'm not a pamor expert so please check this yourself (see the pictures).

Special about this Keris is that this is a Keris Combong, what is indicated by the gaps in the Keris in the sogokans that is caused by the ritual washings during the ages. This Keris Combong is considered to be very powerfull in a spiritual way, it is said that one can see the other world by looking through the gaps.

This keris is very old, probably made 17th century.
Very nice about this Keris is the scabbard and the handle. The scabbard is made out of one piece of wood (Gandar Iras). This is quite rare and very nice.
The wood is very nice (see the detail pictures) and the scabbard had nice details.
The very nice handle has the shape of a Garuda.
The kerisblade is +/- 34,5 cm and the total length of the keris in the scabbard is 44 cm.

The above information is based on the books:
The Invincible Krises 2, Ensiklopedi Keris and Keris Jawa.
The keris keep by owner in Netherland