Public domain
Boatswain's Call from the Wreck of the Dutch East India Company Ship Witte Leeuw
From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This pendant is not just an ornament: hold it upside down and the pointed tail becomes a toothpick. The adjacent boatswain's call was worn by officers on a long cord as a symbol of their leadership. Men in the 16th and 17th centuries wore this kind of practical item also as a sign of wealth, class, and dignity.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own descriptionCredit lineBoatswain’s Call from the Wreck of the Dutch East India Company Ship Witte Leeuw. c. 1600 - before 1613. anonymous. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.
