Wijnkopersgilde, gildepenning van Lernout le Croy 1602

This small, circular object is a guild token, made anonymously in 1602 for Lernout le Croy of the Winemerchants' Guild. In the Dutch Republic at this time, guilds like this one exerted considerable economic and social power. The token's imagery tells us about the values of the guild. On one side, a bunch of grapes represents the source of their trade, while the inscription on the other side identifies the member for whom it was made, cementing his place within the group. These tokens acted as both proof of membership and as a kind of currency within the guild's internal economy. To understand the significance of this token fully, we would need to delve into the archives of the Winemerchants' Guild. These records reveal the rules of membership, the social hierarchy within the guild, and its role in the wider economic landscape of the Dutch Republic. This token is a reminder that art always exists within a specific social and institutional context.