Alan, thanks for the explanation of the Karang Bintulu motif.
Certainly you are correct that kings do not dress their keris the same way as farmers do. I believe that is way many of us find these keris a little too blingy for our personal tastes. We are farmers...or at least, not kings.
I do actually like the kocetan hilt however, though i find the other one (do you recognize who it represents?) quite ugly. The gold work on the sheaths gives me the impression of new work, though i suppose it could be new goldsmithing done over older wooden sheath. As you say, that doesn't really matter in this context as new dress is a common and expected thing within the culture. It's only us collectors who seem to value preserving old and original dress.
It isn't really easy to get more than an overview of these keris from these photos and there is so much kinatah on the blades that it is difficult to get a good sense of the garap of the blades, but i would image that given the provenance they are probably well conceived beneath all that gold.
