I don't think this form of dress was ever used in dances in Bali, except possibly in the dances specifically staged for tourists, as remarked by Henk.
I do not know exactly when this form of dress began to appear, but I have never seen any that I could estimate a pre-WWII age for. In the late 1960's I don't think I saw any of this dress around, but it did seem to become fairly prevalent during the 1970's. The early ones used old blades, and there were some pretty decent blades in some of them, but later ones did only use flat iron, with painted on pamor.In recent years I have not seen these in Bali, and I think they may not be being made any longer, which makes this form a worthwhile part of a collection.
On the subject of "tourist quality".
In Bali there is a very wide range of quality that is available to tourists.
Some is superb art, specifically produced for tourist consumption. Some is absolute junk.
Virtually all of the craft and art that we presently identify as "Balinese" is the product of the influence of European artists who went to live in Bali in the late pre-WWII period. The original Balinese art was and is not nearly so refined and not nearly so attractive to the western taste as is the type of thing that we are accustomed to identifying as "Balinese'.A good book on this subject is Urs Ramseyer--"Art and Craft of Bali".
In its application to the keris, the true "tourist quality" keris is a piece of flat iron, with or without painted on pamor.
Any keris that has a traditionally produced blade, whether old, recent, or brand new, is not able to be classified as "tourist". These keris are all a part of a continuing tradition.However, in the case of the keris under discussion, the blade is culturally correct, the dress is not.
David (mod) is absolutely correct when he says that this beautifully carved dress is not culturally correct. This is a product produced for visitors to Bali. However, Balinese men do not always wear culturally correct keris. The photo here was taken in 2007 on the eve of Hari Nyepi, in Kuta.Note the type of keris being worn.
Again David (mod) is correct when he says that the quality of the hilt of the keris under discussion is not particularly good, however, to replace it with a modern, well carved hilt could well cost more than the rest of the keris cost.
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