Onbekend gilde van Franeker, gildepenning van Luijtjen Popkes Rooda 1790

Curator: Looking at this object, I'm immediately struck by its intimate scale. It has a hushed and weighty feeling; time, you know, pressed into metal. Editor: What we have here is a guild medal from the Franeker guild, commemorating Luijtjen Popkes Rooda. It dates back to 1790 and, interestingly, remains unsigned. We can see that it is an engraved piece made from metal. Curator: Unsigned! That's interesting in itself. It’s begging questions, isn't it? Who made this thing? What did making *this* particular object *mean*? There's this real sense of anonymity… and that adds to the object's solemn weight, somehow. What do you make of it, practically speaking? Editor: Practically, the design speaks of status and trade. One side depicts a shield topped with a crown and decorated with flowers; beneath it are the initials 'LP'. On the other side, you’ll find an eight-pointed star. What might the star allude to? Probably navigation; it represents precision in skill. Curator: Oh, definitely – I see that tension between earthly adornment—that floral shield—and this striving, almost mathematical symbol. There's something really *touching* about it… this need to both *be seen*, and, you know, reach beyond oneself. Does that make sense? It's all so tangible...the wear of being handled over time is pretty intense. Editor: Oh, absolutely. Think about it in terms of artisanal labour too. It points toward local trade networks, hierarchies within the guilds. A medal wasn't just symbolic. For those enmeshed, such guilds shaped identities, economic opportunity. Consider the cost of the material itself, access to engraving skills… the making involved social capital. Curator: Seeing it this way…the material considerations – helps me refocus, bringing the object *right back here*. Like you were saying before—we need to attend to it. Okay, good talk. Editor: Agreed, the interplay between symbol and substance. That medal shows, quite powerfully, an intriguing glimpse of craftsmanship.