Arjan, #0000 steel wool will not scratch the surface very easily. It is a very, very fine steel wool. I have often used it on wood to revive patina hiden behind dirt.
As a collector of keris, which is most definitely an ethnographic item, i would definitely agree with most here that dirt on a keris is
not considered patina. Exactly because of the ethnographic nature of the keris it is considered, as Alan has already stated, rather disrespectful to leave the dress in such a state. Cleaning it or replacing it is the culturally accepted and expected thing to do. From the collectors stand point outside of the culture i prefer to maintain the original dress whenever possible as opposed to replacing it. But i would
never leave dirt on it for any ethnographic reasons. Now i do understand your reasoning in regards to something like an African fetish. But just as you are shocked by the thought of comparing ethnographic objects with furniture i must point out that you also cannot compare the African fetish to a keris. They are apples and oranges in the ethnographic collecting world. Of course you wouldn't clean the gunk off a fetish. You would no doubt be cleaning off layers of offerings that have been fed to it in the past, a big a part of it's history as an ethnographic item. This is not the case, however, with the keris. No self-respecting Indonesian would keep his keris in such a condition and as a collector trying to understand and respect the culture of the item i am collection i choose to follow in that tradition of care and maintenance.
