Alan, you should never apologize for long posts when you are imparting such interesting and pertinent information on the forum. This was a wonderful summary of a subject we have touched upon here and there, but has not been expressed enough times.
To be clearer, my inquiry into fit was not meant to be disparaging of loose fit or adapted sheaths. I was merely trying to determine the timeline for when these sheaths might have been made, so if later, at what period. For instance, the sheath of the out of stain (possibly Madura) keris. The wood seems older than the pendok to me. Perhaps this sheath was adapted and decorated later as Detlef suggests. The reproussé work does not seem to be of a particularly high caliber and i was wondering if that is partly because it is newer work.
What do you think about the work on the silver dress? To me it seems older. I realize that a lot of good silver work is still done in Bali, but i guess i have a tendency to assume that quality work in this sphere is more likely to be older. But that my well be the wrong impression on my part.
I also wondered if there is any chance the out of stain keris was of Lombok origin as they sometimes diverge from what we generally think of as Bali style keris.