Alan,
Those options sound like they are quite recent. I am still sure the keris came to the Netherlands before 1950 and whatever was changed was before that date. And for the text I am still quite sure it is from the 19th century and not for "collectors" only...
I'll try to make a picture from the filling.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
The filling is either plastic steel, or Araldite mixed with iron filings. The Araldite/iron filing mix has been used in Jawa probably since the stuff became available years ago. It acts as a preservative to stop erosion of the blade base, apart from assisting the fixing of a gonjo.It took me a long time to come to terms with this practice and accept it, but when you adopt the mindset that it is your responsibility to preserve that which has been left by previous generations, for future generations, and you discard the self-centered egotism of the "original" concept, its not too difficult to understand the rationale.
Araldite and similar products are very easy to remove with heat, and whilst they are in place they do provide very good protection.
As to why the addition of script and the gonjo alteration was done, I have no idea.
I could create a lot speculation, but I don't know, so one guess is as good as another.
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