Java dress questions and translation

[A. G. Maisey]

OK Gavin thanks.

This sort of thing is very often a keris that was used by a mercenary. Javanese rulers at all levels, as well as private businesses all used mercenaries from societies that understood combat, usually Madura, Bugis, Bali. Scabbards were frequently discarded before & during combat & replaced with whatever was handy later. The idea that everything --- blade, dress & etc --- must match is a nice one, but nobody ever told the people who actually used keris.

For a dress keris all components of the dress should be correctly mated, but even then, the keris in that beautifully mated dress will sometimes be from somewhere other than where the dress is from.