The Sendai Keris

[David]

Again Gustav, i am not sure what your argument is with me. I have not at all put forth that the hilt depicts a buddhist deity. I have in fact argued exactly the opposite, that it is probably of Bali origin.
I am sorry if my passing remark that this keris was "picked up" in his travels was "disturbing" to you, but there is absolutely no documented evidence in the rather well documented stories of this man's incredible journey's that he ever stepped foot in Bali so i am making the assumption that this was not a formal gift from any Balinese court. It may have been a gift from a diplomat in Manila who had contact with the Balinese court, or it may have been a gift from a Spanish diplomat who had such contact, but right now i see nothing that puts Hasekura Tsunenaga in Bali and most writers seem to think he acquired this keris in Manila. Under what circumstances i am afraid none of us can say. Yes it is a keris of status, but there is nothing to say that it was presented to Hasekura Tsunenaga directly from it's source.
As for the painting i am uncertain how an expert would determine if the symbol painted on the sheath was done by the same hand that painted the sheath if it was done in the same era using similar materials. Even so there is always the possibility that the entire painting of the sheath was done outside of Bali. Who knows. It's hard for me to form any opinions on that from the images available.
Interestingly it seems that the two arrows in the painted design may have been incorporated into the design perhaps because they were a part of Hasekura Tsunenaga's own coat of arms.