[David]

Originally Posted by Green

It's interesting to note that Mr Maisey is very reluctant to show the blade. I wonder why that is? would love to hear an honest explanation.

I'm from a keris culture in the state of Kelantan Malaysia. Admittedly I'm a relative novice in kerisology but in my area, there is only one major reason why people sometimes don't want to show their keris blades... it's is primarily because they feel rather reluctant because they fear people will not think their blade is of good enough quality. And keris people are very very sensitive to criticism of their keris, esp heirloom keris. Much like it is not good form to criticize the look of someone's babies.

But I don't feel Mr Maisey's reason is related to the quality of blades as we all know he is very very experienced and a recognized expert in keris, particularly Javanese kerises. So, pardon my rather basic question but would be happy to understand the reasons why. (I am not at all familiar with Indonesian keris culture so I may have missed something about 'showing the blades' )

Well, i am not going to answer for Alan here as he no doubt has his own take on this and will probably come along and express that sometime soon. I can speak from my own viewpoint however.
Since you speak of being from "a keris culture" you are apparently aware that there are indeed many. The understanding of keris is not a homogenous thing that everyone agrees upon. You are part of a Malaysian keris culture while Alan relates to a Javanese one. There are bound to be differences in approaches, believes and even basic concepts. As i stated in Alan's other recent thread, i used to be more strict about showing blades just as he is, but of late have felt the need to post some images to public pages just to feed my thirst for knowledge about what it is that i actually have in my collection. After all, i'm not getting any younger. Still, there are many blades in my collection that i will never show publicly. Interestingly enough, often these are keris that may not be the most beautiful or skillful blades, but it is not because i fear criticism of their execution that i choose not to show them. These are mostly more talismanic blades and/or ones that i have formed a more personal connection to. The keris is, after all, a very personal weapon. At least that is what it used to be. These days, if online keris forums are anything to go by, they seem more a commodity to be flaunted in public. Many people seem to post keris in these venues simply as a show & tell exercise in a constant game of one-upmanship. I believe that when you get down to the original intent and purpose of such an iconic artifact that this can be seen by some people within certain keris cultures as somewhat offensive. For some i believe it is sort of like showing nude pictures of your wife. While i don't always completely agree from a collector's point of view i can certainly understand that from someone who is deeply engaged in the culture itself. And frankly, whenever i do decide to show one of my keris blades for whatever reason it is always well considered first and somewhat regretted afterwards.
But unnlike many Indonesian collectors i do not have the good fortune to have a local keris club nearby where i can attend regular meetings and sit around with friends who share my enthusiasm for keris and discuss the finer points of our blades face-to-face. So if i do have questions about origin, age or particulars of form i really have no choice but to post a blade on a public forum for discussion if i hope to find new information about a blade in my collection. In doing so, however, i open up that viewing to countless people on the internet that i have no real connection with. And so i can google keris and find that people i have never even had any contact with are now showing one of my dearest "family" members on their Pinterest page. So that is a dilemma for me. If i want to know more about a particular blade i need to post it where it can be discussed, but once i do the images of that blade are now in the public domain, forever out of my control. Some believe that this may well weaken any personal connection one has with that keris. In forms of Western Magick for instance, one keeps the work one does to themselves. There is an old axiom: To know, to will, to dare, to keep silent. Not showing a keris blade is sort of like the "to keep silent" part. Not showing people the "magick". If one believes one's keris holds power, flaunting that blade in public likely weaken that power and one's connection to it.
I think that you are indeed on track on why some in your own circles are hesitant to show their blades. Often people don't want to hear that the keris they are really excited about, that the dealer told them was an old Mojo pusaka or a high court piece, is really a recently made Madura blade. Or even if the blade is exactly what they think it is, some my still criticize the execution. Personally i could care less. I acquire keris that call to me regardless of their execution. Collecting keris is not a beauty contest for me and some of the more reserved blades in my collection have over the years turned out to be some of my favorites. But if one does choose to place a keris blade on a public forum they should be prepared to accept some feedback, otherwise why place it there to begin with? If the blade is so personal to you that criticism of that blade is seen as criticism of yourself then i would suggest that it would probably be best not to show such a blade in public in the first place.