View Single Post
Old 11th October 2023, 10:44 PM   #10
A. G. Maisey
Member
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,722
Default

Maybe.

What we know about Balinese colour symbolism is that it is the colour alone that dictates choice of material for symbolic ornamentation.

We also know that sapphires & rubies, amongst many other materials, have been used by the Balinese people for symbolic ornamentation.

We know that the occurrence of high value gemstones in Balinese keris ornamentation is relatively rare.

We know that rubies which display asterism, ie, star rubies, are rare.

Star rubies are red, just like normal rubies, but they also display asterism.

Whilst it is true that we would need an actual example of a Balinese keris that used one or more star rubies in its ornamentation, in order to be able to know with certainty that star rubies were used in Balinese keris ornamentation, I rather think that we might wait a very long time to find such an example.

On the other hand, the weight of known facts that relate to Balinese symbolic colour ornamentation indicates that given the population of Balinese keris over time, it might be considered to be rather unusual if somebody, at some time, did not have a Balinese keris that used a star ruby in its ornamentation.

However, be all that as it may, I read Jose's question as if it had been framed in colloquial fashion, where the word "ever" is not necessarily intended to mean something like "from the beginning of time".
A. G. Maisey is offline   Reply With Quote