Hi Bill. This blade certainly is old. Though judging tangguh is not my strong point it is my understanding that the erasure of various elements of the ricikan from years of blade erosion would make it more difficult to place this keris in a specific period. But i wouldn't be surprised if it were indeed 17thC.
The profile seen in the gandik of a keris is definitly not always supposed to be an "elephant head". I put this in quotes because AFAIK there is no definitive proof that it is indeed supposed to be an actual elephant. But you also see keris (more rarely) with nagas and singos. I recently saw bali blade with a human face in this position. A seated human can rarely be seen as well. A birds had is not one i recall ever seeing and i am fairly positive that the keris in question was indeed intended to be an "elephant head" that has eroded away.
I would still be more likely to see this blade as Sumatran or Javanese before Bugis. It's slender form and general profile does not appear Bugis to me.
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