Taming Sari???

[David]

Originally Posted by Neo

Well, actually my question was not whether or not it was the actual Taming Sari

I am more interested in whether or not that jangkung (?) keris with fancy cucumber hilt is the one that the Perak Sultanate CLAIMS to be Taming Sari. It is more about their IDEA of Taming Sari, how it would look like ... let's just assume for a second that the Sultanate tailored the story and the actual Taming Sari was lost in the river. Then, logically, the Sultan would be most likely to commission for a keris that looks as close as possible to the actual Taming Sari from his memory, not something that he fancied of having.

I don't think anyone suggested that this was your original question Neo. Still it bares some examining and if there was any solid evidence that it is the original it would in fact answer your question. It doesn't seem possible however to prove this, so as Amuk suggests, it's a matter of faith.
I do think that you need to put your time frame into perspective though. It would appear that this keris did not come into the possession of the Sultans until the late 19th century at the earliest. It was apparently in the family of the Admiralty for generations before, or so the story goes. So while this may or may not be the actual mythical blade i doubt that the Sultan had it commissioned and then started telling people it was Taming Sari and i doubt that he would have any idea what the actual blade was supposed to look like anyway as it was made and had it's legendary existence centuries before that time.