True age
Hi Alan,
I whole heartily agree with your comment. I handled Dongson blades and this one is very probable a recent copy. The figure is poorly detailed, the patina is wrong, the weight is wrong. Cees and I agreed on that.
I showed it because it is part of the collection where it served as a reference to compare for instance with pic 15/16 of the collection. We believed that to be a nice old example which echoes something of the Dongson.
We also underlined the point your making too on the probable time gap between Dongson and this keris.) The issue of different time frames (bronze age and iron age) stays, although there are plenty of examples of blades that seem to break that rule.) This blade shown was posted before (string about bronze keris)
About the issue of making better pictures of the blades, I will try to ask around. A friend of mine is also a professional photographer. Normally he would not charge me anything but this could turn out to be an extensive project. I'll keep you posted.
As for an exhibition, maybe Theo Alkema has the right connection. I pretty sure David van Duuren and Theo know each other. But even with that contact it never has come to something like a dedicated exhibition. Who would take the trip anyway, apart from a few specialists?
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