Metal wrapped javanese hilt

[A. G. Maisey]

I know that this thread is about a hilt, but it seems that we have been drawn into discussion of the different types of techniques that have been used to make pendok coming from differing locations.

I hope that the accompanying photos, although not of particularly good quality, will be adequate to illustrate the differences we have been talking about.

Photo 'A' is of four old Banyumas pendok that have had the motif applied by what I shall call incising; 'B' is a close up of one of those pendok. The technique was demonstrated to me perhaps 20 years ago by a craftsman who was well known within the keris trade and almost unknown outside the trade, a man who was the descendant of a line of craftsmen who had worked in the keris trade in Yogyakarta:- Bp. Pawirodihardjo, AKA Pak Walijo. He also identified this pendok style as Banyumas. The ones shown are poor examples of low quality, and in some cases have had the curve at the top flattened, so that they could be fitted to Surakarta wrongkos. Pak Walijo passed away some years ago, but his legacy will be with us for a long time to come.

Photo 'C' is a fair quality embossed Banyumas pendok in silver, 'D' is a close up.

Photo 'E' is a new Surakarta pendok with engraved motif, 'F' is a close up.

Photo 'G' is a Yogyakarta pendok with incised motif, 'H' is a close up.

The Banyumas pendok form, as explained to me by Pak Walijo, is similar to the Surakarta form but has a curved top and in some cases a lis (collar) fitted to that curved top.

I most earnestly hope that these photos clarify what I have been trying to explain.