Messenger's Badge
by COSTER, Jan, Silver, parcel-gilt and enamelled, mounted on copper, 18,4 x 15,5 cm
This badge was made by Jan Coster, a silversmith in Amsterdam, for the City of Amsterdam as the insignia for the city messenger. In the frame of the medallion he incorporated an element - satyrs completely confined by strapwork - from Cornelis Bos’s prints. The badge is one of the most remarkable examples of Mannerism in northern Netherlandish silverwork.