Thanks for you opinion on this subject Alan. As Rick points out sometimes opinions are the best we have to go on.
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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
So, by the mid 19th century the keris in Jawa was well and truly a magical object, as Europeans understood magic, whereas previously it had been a power object as that was understood within the framework of traditional Javanese society.
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Could you go into this difference a bit further Alan. I think it might be helpful to more definitively establish what we mean by "magical object" vs. "power object".
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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
We can find examples of what we now refer to as "keris art" in keris that date to the 17th century , and prior to this, however, I doubt that at that time we were looking at an art form , but rather at art being used to ornament an object that still had a number of practical uses.
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So practical purposes would be, of course, as a physical weapon and on a royal level as a way to hold, assign and distribute power. Can we extend this list further?