Ceremonial staff, anonymous, 1604

Ceremonial staff, anonymous, 1604

copper (metal), l 196cm More details

Stadtholder Maurice, the arms of the town of Enkhuizen, the Pope, Adam and Eve, hunting scenes, Venus, Cupid, poems, European princes and princesses – all of this is represented on a staff incised with the year 1604. It may have been crafted in India to mark the first Dutch–Indian friendship treaty in 1604. Alternatively, it might have been carved by a sailor from the Enkhuizen Chamber of the Dutch East India Company as a way of killing time on board ship.

On display in room 2.9