Provooststaf van de St. Joris Doelen te Alkmaar 1600 - 1650

This is a staff of the St. Joris Doelen in Alkmaar, crafted from wood and silver by an anonymous artist. The St. Joris Doelen were civic guard buildings that served important social functions in the Netherlands. These staffs represented authority and order, but also the power dynamics inherent in maintaining civic structures. Think about the communities these guards were meant to protect and who may have been excluded or marginalized by their presence. What did safety mean to different people living in Alkmaar? Who had access to it, and who did not? Objects like these provide insight into the ways that social order was maintained and contested in Dutch society. What feelings does it evoke in you?