Ceremonial staff, anonymous, 1604 Canvas Print
The staff of rosewood is decorated with images of European monarchs, biblical representations, the titles of Prince Maurits and the coat of arms of the city of Enkhuizen. Perhaps the staff was made in Calicut on the west coast of India on the occasion of the friendship treaty that VOC admiral Steven van der Haghen concluded with the monarch there in 1604. Ceremony staff, crowned by a large, hollow, silver-plated copper bud in the shape of a stocky baluster, around which four lanceolate leaves and on which a four-leaved flower (one of the leaves slightly dented). The shape resembles a pomegranate. At the bottom of the staff a copper point that is incised with some lines. The staff is completely decorated with carvings and divided into zônes. In the upper zône the coat of arms of Prince Maurice covered by a fleuron crown and the coat of arms of Enkhuizen, held by the Virgin of that city. Underneath a zône with twisted bands, in which alternately ornamental and vegetal motifs. Underneath a zône with a representation of the Fall: on either side of the apple-laden Tree of Knowledge, around the trunk why a serpent has twisted its head with an apple in its bek, stand the naked Adam and Eve; between them in a lion and above this a unicorn. Underneath it a zône with twisted bands, which run in opposite directions as those of the second zône, and which are filled with ornamental and once with a vegetal motif. Underneath is a zône with a mythological representation: the helmeted and armored goddess Minerva pierces with her lance a monster that she tramples. To her right is Venus, completely naked, on a turtle (?), a dove (?) with the left hand pressing against her chest, the winged Amor at her feet. Above the two goddesses, a naked Neptune, a trident in hand, rides on a horse. To the right of Venus a winged female figure, who balances with the right foot on a small sphere; above her head flies a large bird. With caption (I). Underneath a zône with twisted tires, similar to the second zône. Underneath a zône with the figures of: Prince Maurice, a plumed hat on the head, a command staff in the right hand, a triple chain on the right shoulder, between his legs a lion; Archduke Albertus, a hat with a crown (?) on the head, a cross on a chain on the chest, holding up a branch with five flowers in the right hand; Pope Paul V, a hat on which a tiara on the head, a kind of cross staff in the right hand, holding in the left hand a twig with three flowers in front of the chest. Above their heads the fully armed goddess Minerva, four putti and a bearded man in classic costume next to whom a bird and a lion. With caption (II). Underneath a zône with the representation of three fighting men, all with feathered hats on their heads. The two fight each other with klewangs, the third wears a halberd in the right hand. With caption (III). Underneath a zône in which King David sits in heaven playing the harp; at his feet a putto and over it a lion, followed by a chariot pulled by two pigeons and two swans on which Venus and Amor; on earth, under King David, the goddess of abundance with her horn, who reaches the right hand to a child with a tweet tooth, while to the right of her two naked figures with winged hats envelop themselves with garlands. Under Venus her car sits on a chair a naked, winged figure, a large drinking bowl in the right hand. With caption (IV). Underneath a zône with a couple, hand in hand, and a man who, over a tree, reaches a woman a ring with the right hand, while in the left hand he holds up a leafy branch. Underneath a zône with twisted bands, which are filled with ornamental motifs. Underneath a zône with three niches enclosed by round arches on columns, in which figures, namely an emperor with a crown, scepter and imperial apple (Emperor Rudolf II?), a queen dressed according to German fashion, a crown on the long, drooping hair, and a very sumptuously dressed woman, on her head a hat with raised feathers (Queen Elisabeth of England, died in 1602?). Each niche is crowned by a woman's head; which above the emperor carries a horizontally striped flag on the head, which above the queen a flag with an Andreas cross. Between these heads three soldiers armed with peaks. Underneath a zône with twisted bands, which are filled with ornamental motifs. Underneath a zône with a hunting scene; under a fruit-laden oak tree, a man, holding a skewer in the right hand, blows on a hunting horn; before him two dogs, who persecute a buck with long, crooked horns. Above the dogs a second man with a skewer in hand.
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