Keris Jawa?

[Gustav]

Alan, thank you for your detailed response, and for being even more gentle then usual - I very much appreciate that.

I would like to say, that I never in my life have felt a wish to give Tangguh to something, and that includes this particular Keris. I only would like to try to find some clues which possibly could help to narrow down the time and space window for this Keris, and that in my childish approach includes an attempt to find some existing parallels.

I want to make some points, or better, add some details for possible discussion, and I will need a couple of posts for it, because I would like to address one such detail at time, with pictures.

At first, on goldwork, and goldwork on blade and Gonjo.

On the execution - as naive it sounds, I simply am not aware at this point of such meticulous execution of smallest details in high relief outside of island of Java. Of course there is more to Palembang goldwork on Keris then the frequently seen applied gold foil on spine of Gonjo and Gandhik, but this simply is outside of the Palembang capabilities. The closest example, which comes to my mind is the Sultans Keris from Museum Pusat, E 253/13957, close in many other aspects, but in fineness of goldwork detail it doesn't reach this Keris.

Now to the goldwork on Gonjo. As I said in #4 and Alan in #12, the goldwork has been done intwo different time periods. But that applies only to the flat applicated gold on sides and spine of Gonjo, and of course, sides and spine have been smoothened and prepared in some other way (more apparent on spine - in fact I wonder, if the goldwork on spine is yet from another, third period) to apply it. The goldwork on Gonjo under the Gandhik is stylistically and technically analogous to goldwork on blade, and, perhaps difficult to recognise from picture, but the surface here corresponds to the surface of blade.