The Lord Marshal of the Palace, Baron von Löwendahl carried this staff for the first time at the marriage of Friedrich August the Second, the son of August the Strong, to the Austrian emperor’s daughter, Maria Josepha, in 1719. It’s almost two metres long, and is made of ebony decorated with gold, silver and enamel – as well as quantities of diamonds and pearls. The broad gold ornaments on the staff, which are there to protect the head, neck and tip, display on one side a crown – an allusion to Poland – and the Latin monogram F-A-R-P: Friedrich August, King of Poland. On the other side the staff is adorned with the elector’s hat and the coat-of-arms of Saxony. Underneath is the Latin monogram F-A-E-S: Friedrich August, Elector of Saxony. Poland and Saxony are symbolically united on the head of the staff, where both symbols are shown. Historical documents provide evidence that this staff of the Lord Marshal of the Palace was the creation of Johann Heinrich Köhler.
It was used well into the nineteenth century. For the ceremonial opening of the state parliament, for instance, it was regularly borrowed from the Green Vault.
- Location & Dating
- Dresden, shortly before 1719
- Material & Technique
- Ebony, gold, enamel, diamonds
- Dimenions
- L 184,5 cm
- Museum
- Grünes Gewölbe
- Inventory number
- VIII 166