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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
Yes, the old hilts usually attributed to Cirebon do display a high level of artistic excellence.
As to why this is so, I doubt that we will ever know. We could theorise about it all day, and one guess is probably as good as another.
My own personal theory is that the artistic expression shown in the Cirebon hilts, and in other areas of Cirebon art and craft, was generated by the twofold factors of external Chinese influence, and a resurgence of Javanese values, similar to what happened in Kartosuro when Dutch overlordship threatened Javanese culture.
These influences, combined with a spirit of competition between the royal houses administering Cirebon resulted in the production of the beautiful hilts that we now associate with this area.
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There's an interesting (not popular) theory about the history of maritime South East Asia first wave Ismalization that connected and dates back to Zheng He expedition, which also speculates that (if I remember correctly) most if not all of Wali Songo (incl. Gunung Jati) and even Raden Patah of Demak are Muslim Chinese/descent, hence the strong Chinese influence in pesisiran arts. I always thought that once the Javanese keris are similar to pesisiran keris in old European collection and the smaller distinct style comes later, do you think I'm at lost on this matter?