Rick, I'm talking top level kraton taste. The elite in the Surakarta Kraton tend towards restraint. Its a case of "less is more". Rolls Royce type class, where you do it rather plain but top quality X 200%.
One of the established standards for top class dress combination is that the hilt should be at least a little bit darker than the atasan of the wrongko. Yeah, at night-time functions you'll see the diamond seluts come out, and sometimes diamonds on the pendok. But plain high quality is more or less the benchmark of good taste.
So just where does a brand new, dead white ivory jejeran belong? Frankly, I cannot see it in a kraton setting. Maybe in a non-kraton setting, plenty of opportunity there I guess. I've got several planar hilts in ivory, only one is new and white, that is mated to a wrongko that is also dead white.
This wrongko of Paul's is a real classic, nice old mamas pendok, its a terusan, or iras gandar, should this sort of wrongko be mated to new ivory hilt that has been made as a display piece? I think not. I'd like to see it with a good, old tayuman yudowinatan.
There is no doubt that this keris looks nice as it is, but it is a classic, in my opinion it would look better presented as a classic. In a kraton setting I cannot imagine who might be able to wear it the way it is.
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