should I or shouldn't I change and repair
Recently I acquired several kerises that were originally belonged to Edward Frey and featured in his book The Kris : Mystic Weapon of the Malay World.
One of these was obviously with a wrong dress combination . Tajong hilt with not the usual tajong type scabbard but typical Malay scabbard suited to Jawa demam hilt. There was a little chip on the tip of the 'nose' of the hilt too.
My questions are:
(1) Since these items can be considered 'historical' as they are featured in a well known book should I correct this mistake?
either by finding an old tajong scabbard ( quite possible for me to do as I live in Keris making community in Malaysia) or take off the tajong hilt and replace with more suitable ones (eg Jawa Demam or Patah tiga )?
(2) I can get some keris maker to repair the chipped hilt. Should I do this or leave it alone?
What is the usual acceptable thing to do in this situation. On the one hand I like to preserve the item in it's original state, but on the other I feel it should be restored correctly.
sorry for the very bad pics
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