Javanese Keris

[David]

Originally Posted by Athanase

Hello,
This is one of my first keris. A simple and modest keris that attracted me to the shape of the handle and especially the monster's face on it (and its very low price ).

The only think i might add here is that the mask faces carved in the hilt are known as "cecekan" and i have heard it suggested that they are a stylized Kala face, so perhaps we should look at this as more deity than monster. In Javanese Mythology Barata Kala is the god of the underworld, but also the god of time and destruction. There may also be an ancestor reference here.
The style of your planar hilt, with its bellied-out front, is a less common variety which Solyom's refers to as "kagok". Literally i believe it means "clumsy" or "fattened".