Not really for the collector market Rasdan, at least, not in the way that we now think about collecting. People at the top of the tree in Solo from the 1970's through to the not so distant past held the opinion that keris which were made in the style of earlier periods were made as a token of respect to the makers of the past. Thus, a keris of say, Mojo style could be made during the Pajang era, not as an attempt to create a forgery, but as a token of respect to a previous maker.
Pauzan made a number of keris in styles from past eras --- KB's, betoks, Matarams --- it was never an attempt to deceive, it was always homage to past, and also to demonstrate his skill. I even made one keris in a past style, and using material that would place it as a past style. I did this just to show that I could do it.
At the present time some of the most artistic keris of the current era have been made in the KB style.
In respect of the idea "before collectors exist", I just don't know when that might be where keris are concerned. Bear in mind, Javanese noble men had very limited ways in which to store wealth. One of the acceptable ways was to store wealth in keris, this is probably the foundation stone of the Solonese tangguh system. Keris collecting and collectors have been around for a very long time.
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