Zilveren prijspen c. 1710

Curator: What a striking object! It’s called “Zilveren prijspen”, which translates to “Silver Prize Pen,” and it dates from around 1710. The silversmith who crafted this Baroque piece was Jonas Bagelaer. Editor: There's an austere beauty to it, isn’t there? Cold, almost weapon-like, in its polished simplicity, yet suggesting eloquence. What’s it made of? Curator: The prize pen is wrought from silver, a precious metal. Pens like these weren’t really for writing but presented as prizes within organizations. Craft guilds often celebrated their members achievements with ornate ceremonial objects. Editor: The feather is such a potent symbol, though, isn’t it? Associated not only with writing and communication but with freedom, flight, even the celestial. To take that ethereal image and forge it in a solid, almost brutal metal… what’s the message? Curator: Think about it in terms of institutional power. Guilds possessed enormous socio-economic control. Awarding this substantial silver quill wasn’t just recognizing skill, but cementing loyalty. This isn't just about promoting skill, it’s a demonstration of codified systems of support and the symbolic weight that comes with patronage. Editor: I suppose the symbolic rigidity makes sense. But imagine holding this in your hand—the weight, the coolness of the metal…it’s such a tactile representation of success. The transition of using organic matter, feather, into crafted form using metal, silver, presents a shift in symbolization of written text in our shared cultures. The pen becomes precious because its form remains untouched as an art object; its silver nature speaks for a timeless notion within a shared experience among us all. Curator: That tension you point out—between freedom and structure—that's the real conversation here. A quill embodies a particular kind of access, and with these symbolic tokens, power is negotiated, isn’t it? By memorializing a guild, we also think about who is purposefully excluded. Editor: Yes, and the lasting image—the visual language of power—embedded in that form. It's all incredibly present within the cold silver object. Curator: It definitely makes me reconsider seemingly simple celebratory objects like awards. Editor: Me too. It reminds me that sometimes the most evocative imagery comes from the space between contrasting ideas, or mediums.