Barry, I can assure you that this is most definitely a keris.
It is also a work of art.
In times past this particular blade form was the prerogative of a priest.
The kajongan warangka is a form that in times past was favoured by young men, but today the old time restrictions no longer apply.
The dress on the keris shown is obviously recent, but it is very good quality dress, and as David has remarked, it is a very, very long way from what a tourist might purchase, even if he were fortunate enough to be offered something of this quality. We are not looking at little money here.
There are currently a number of pande keris and empus working in Bali, and most of their production is for the local market. In Bali the keris is required in a number of ceremonies, from memory, I think it is nine, and every adult Balinese man needs a keris to be a member of his community. There are only so many old keris, and the vast bulk of new Balinese buyers choose to buy a new keris rather than an old one, in any case.
There is a rather distorted perception that new and recent keris are produced for tourists, or collectors, both local and international.
This is absolutely incorrect.
In Balinese and Javanese society the keris is still a requisite item of dress.
There were only ever a limited number of old keris.
Each new person who needs a keris basically has the choice between a very low quality older keris, or a quite good quality recent keris, both of which will sell for about the same amount of money.There is no prize for guessing what most people buy.
Then we have the Indonesian art collectors, and this group includes a large number of people who are very orientated to the keris, as many people regard the keris (blade only) as the highest expression of the Javanese plastic arts.
In simple terms, you do not even get to see the best in modern keris art unless you are very well connected, and to actually be in a position to buy it is something that can take years of effort.
Mention has been made in another thread of the Neka Art Museum and Keris Collection at Ubud in Bali. The owner, Pak Suteja Neka, is a member of the Pande Caste and he sees his mission as to promote and preserve the Balinese keris. More than 90% of his collection is representative of the very best in modern keris art.
The sort of keris that tourists and inexperienced collectors buy are nearly always of very, very low quality, but in recent years, even these keris are able to be regarded as true keris, it is just a matter of them being at the bottom of the market.
I used to see keris that we could definitely categorise as "Tourist Keris", but I have not seen these in either Bali or Jawa for many years. Typically the Balinese ones had highly carved black wood dress, often of good quality, and the blade was a piece of sheet iron with the pamor pattern etched onto it. The Javanese ones were mostly old dress with a piece of sheet iron, or a worthless old blade, holding it together.
New and recent keris at the present time can definitely be considered as "real keris", but the quality is related to what the buyer is prepared to pay.
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