Mace of the mayor of Grossbasel

Description

During his period of office 'Oberstknecht' (chief magistrate) Isaak Merian (1700-1762, in office 1755-62) had this mace made by the Basle goldsmith Johann Ulrich Fechter III (1709-1765, guild member 1741) at his own expense. A silver angel holding an escutcheon featuring the Basle crosier originally crowned the mace, but Merian did not like it; he had the angel replaced by the figure of Justitia (Justice), also at his own expense. He had the angel set on another mace which has not survived. The Roman goddess Justitia had been very widely used as a motif personifying the virtue of justice and as an allegory of law and jurisprudence in state and legal symbolism since the Renaissance. Nevertheless the composite mace lacks stylistic unity. The style arid form of the handle, ferrule and lower part of the top with its twisting baluster point to the mid CI8; the elongated, small headed standing figure and its pedestal are the products of C16 late Mannerism. The goddess of justice has her usual attributes - the scales as a symbol of the balance between right and wrong and the sword as the emblem of punishment - but the blindfold betokening impartiality is missing.