Very, very good David.
Very good indeed.
On the fill of the mouth in a wrongko.
There are a number of reasons for this:-
1) a wrongko can be original, but worn, and no longer provides a good fit or protection for the blade, so the over-size mouth is filled, usually by an inlay of wood, sometimes done in a contrasting colour.
2) a wrongko might be of particularly good wood, and is intentionally used instead of new wood; the thought behind this is a little bit like marrying a woman who is of exceptional quality, rather than a virgin:- a virgin has her own virtue, but a beautiful or intelligent woman with several previous husbands can more than compensate for the limited virtues of a virgin.
3) economy:- re-use of old can be a lot more economical than creation of new.
In view of the quality of the wood in this wrongko I'm inclined to think that reason #2 is the applicable one.
In accordance with what I believe to be true, this keris is East Jawa, meaning that it could be found in Madura, as Madura is a part of East Jawa, but it is not necessarily identifiable as of specifically Madura origin.
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