I also agree with Alan that as part of modern keris art this is an aspect of keris culture that we simply need to accept, even if many of us do not enjoy it. I would never personally consider collecting a keris like this, but to each their own. Just as i can walk into the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and find countless paintings and sculptures that i find hideous in appearance and execution that are still being accepted by the art world as worthy of display.
This particular work bothers me even further since it is mixing elements of more than one keris culture, including unduk-unduk (seahorse) figures that AFAIK are only to be found on certain Peninsula keris. So the whole thing is a bit of a fantasy piece to my eye and nothing that would likely ever be seen as a serious keris by either a Madurese or Malaysian. But it is nicely crafted for sure. As an art piece it seems that many of these young keris makers have it in their heads that they must re-invent the wheel and that some more is better. I will maintain the old adage that LESS is actually more in these cases. Not my cuppa tea for sure.
