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Staff

1700-1740 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bandmaster’s staff; early 18th Century, Dutch

Fruitwood with decoration carved in the round, in openwork, in relief and countersunk relief, partly in chip-carving. Below finial carved in the wood, four-sided, flat-faced form tapering towards the base.

Finial in the form of a soldier wearing long coat and breeches in the manner of the early 18th century, with musket as in the attention position, behind a dog and bunches of grapes, in relief running to the base. The reverse and sides divided above a solid base terminal into four openwork rope-pattern compartments, each containing three balls, alternating with four squared knobs carved on the faces, with ladies waving a tulip, gallants below, also waving, and chip-carved patterns.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved fruitwood
Brief description
Bandmaster’s staff, carved fruitwood, Dutch, 1700-40
Physical description
Bandmaster’s staff; early 18th Century, Dutch

Fruitwood with decoration carved in the round, in openwork, in relief and countersunk relief, partly in chip-carving. Below finial carved in the wood, four-sided, flat-faced form tapering towards the base.

Finial in the form of a soldier wearing long coat and breeches in the manner of the early 18th century, with musket as in the attention position, behind a dog and bunches of grapes, in relief running to the base. The reverse and sides divided above a solid base terminal into four openwork rope-pattern compartments, each containing three balls, alternating with four squared knobs carved on the faces, with ladies waving a tulip, gallants below, also waving, and chip-carved patterns.
Dimensions
  • Length: 81cm
  • Maximum diameter: 3cm
FC / LW 26.1.10
Credit line
Given by Mrs S.D. Amis
Object history
Given by Mrs S.D. Amis (RF 55/4209)
Historical context
Comparable objects
V&A: W.12-1946

This is a bandmaster's staff. Staffs have served other professional functions. For example, sextons have used staffs to awake those sleeping during sermons, and in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries tall staffs were made for running footmen. (Edward H. Pinto, Treen and Other Wooden Bygones: An Encyclopedia and Social History (London: G. Bell & Son, 1969), p.28)
Collection
Accession number
W.26-1955

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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