Kommandostab

This commander’s baton, made for Emperor Ferdinand III, is a sophisticated objet d’art. The long, helical, turned-ivory handle is hollow and has been fitted with optical lenses so that it can also function as a telescope. The gilt silver lids are decorated with polychrome enamel depicting trophies, garlands, musical instruments, and the signs of the Zodiac.

The upper lid is surmounted by a tournament helmet embellished with a blue pattern of plant and flower ornamentation. This type of helmet was worn for a combat on foot or a Kolbenturnier (fought with wooden clubs), but by the 1640s it was already antiquated and only used for heraldic purposes. On the back of the helmet sits a tiny plume-holder enamelled in turquoise below two small drilled holes that presumably once held minute feathers, possibly gold and enamelled. Note the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece around the neck of the tiny helmet; a large ruby is mounted above the Fleece. The visor, too, is studded with rubies, and when opened reveals a naturalistic polychrome portrait head of Emperor Ferdinand III.

The baton’s lower lid is decorated with the enamelled monogram F3ML surmounted by the imperial crown. F3 refers to Ferdinand III, ML to his second wife, Archduchess Maria Leopoldine, a daughter of Archduke Leopold V and Claudia de’ Medici. The imperial couple celebrated their nuptials on 2 July 1648 at Linz in Upper Austria. Maria Leopoldine died the following year, on 7 August 1649, shortly after giving birth to their son Charles Joseph. This allows us to date the object to within a year. It may have been commissioned either for their wedding or to commemorate the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in the summer of 1648.