Dave, you are, of course, right on many fronts. One thing i would like to see if Wolviex deems it a possibility, is the pendok put the proper way on the sheath. It just adds to the mismatched look of things the way it is. It would do no damage to the piece an would allow us to see if this pendok was really made for this sheath.
Now Dave, you are right, this keris could have some mystical attributes that made it's owner value it highly and indeed, he may have decided to honor it with this elaborately beautiful dress. The true value of any keris can ONLY be assessed by it's owner, plain and simple. That being said, i was reacting to the general gush of comments that said "beautiful keris". Not being the owner, knowing the history, etc. i can only respond to it from what i know and can see. I can only gauge this keris against the general criteria for what makes a good keris as we here in this community have discussed many times over. This appears to me to be (sorry wolviex, cover your ears
) a keris of inferior workmanship in only a fair state of condition. In my view, not a beautiful keris. You can certainly compare the dress of the keris on pg. 72 in van Duuren's Critical Bibliography, and your point about the hulu is well noted. Wolviex's example is a fine representation of this form, no doubt and as can be seen in van Duuren, an exceptable hilt for such a dress. But please don't compare the blades here. The example in van Duuren is a truely exquisite blade.Beautiful workmanship. The same can not be said for Wolviex's example. Any reference to mystical power is purely conjecture.