When is a keris legitimate?

[kai]

Hello Alan,

There is perhaps one factor that needs to be considered when formulating a response to my question, and that is the nature of the keris:- what is a keris?

I do not intend this as another question, merely as something we should ask ourselves before we decide what the word "legitimate" might mean.

I'm not sure both definitions can be seperated (unless you specify each for this discussion). Genuine, good (as in the ol' thread), traditional, real, you-name-it. All may have slightly different connotations to any of us collectors - not terribly different from our more or less ideosyncratic decisions/priorities what to include in our personal collections.

Even if limited to Orang Jawa in today's society of central Java, I'd posit that "legitimate" (or any of the other "definitions/descriptions") keris will mean very different things to different sectors of society and even individuals.

I'm not sure if this helps the discussion a lot. However, I have no problems to accept that some toy-like props serve as "legitimate" keris in societies of origin (even if falling way short of any academic definition of keris) and, arguably, may have a place in a comprehensive keris collection. Unless limiting the definition to Keraton pakem quality pieces (which would exclude some 99% of keris from discussion), there are also always lots of keris conforming to any less restrictive definition that most of us would agree being of crappy craftmanship (despite "traditionally" worked).

Regards,
Kai