PENDOK

The pendok is a decorative metal sleeve that covers the gandar.  Pendok are common on Java Keris. It is usually made of brass copper, some are in silver, more seldom in gold. The craftsman who decorates the pendok is called the Gemblak.

The pendok is often decorated with embossed or engraved designs similar to those used on batik. The Malayu people mainly Muslims, a religion that forbids the portrayal of animal and human forms in a realistic manner, to get around this prohibition, the Gemblak does not attempt to express this matter in a realistic form. Islamic art is essentially two dimensional, covering surfaces with overall patterns, either geographic or vegetal: the distinctive arabesque of curving stems with leaves and flowers. A single element of the form is chosen and then that element is repeated again and again in the pattern.

Variations:

1. Pendok cukitan is decorated by piercing (dicukit)
2. Pendok krawangan is decorated by carving (ditatah)
3. Pendok kemalo is colored. The color being an indication of the social rank during the colonial period
4. Pendok tretes is decorated with gem stones.