Frey Collection Picit

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

A typical kris for "nouveaux riches"

LOL! I was not aware that collection of keris was now a fad amongst the nouveau riche.
As we all know the price for a nice keris can run really high for a any number of reasons. If the bidder truly felt this was solid gold as claimed that would, of course, add to the material cost of this keris. The ivory parts, with paperwork attesting to it antiquity also adds to that material value. But other factors are probably at play here as well. Being a part of an acknowledged private collection of an established and generally respected author on keris probably adds some value for certain collectors just as any item that can be established as having belonged to a well know person or celebrity. It is a piece that was published in a book most keris collectors probably own. But i would also like to draw your attention once again to the elephant in the room which very few here seem to want to engage in discussion on. This is what appears to be a pre-WWII (at least) keris picit of Malaysian origin. I think your call of early 20th Century might well be correct, but judging the exact era when this keris was made seems difficult. It may be older for all i know. As such, at least from what i know, this is a rather rare specimen. Please, someone, show me another non-contemporary keris picit made in Malaysia. Show me one even not made in Jawa. I can't say i have ever seen one. So from a collector's perspective this seems to be a rather unusual item and as we all know, rare items in the keris world will demand high prices. Whether the pendok is solid gold or not might not be a driving factor in that equation.