American heraldry in Amsterdam

 
emrys
 
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emrys
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21 April 2009 08:55
 

I was walking along the canal during my lunch break looking at the gables when I came across this one.

http://xs538.xs.to/xs538/09172/vs_smal892.jpg

now I had seen this one before and had seen that an eagle was depicted on the shield and I do not know what was different this time probably the sunlight falling on it from a different angle but i saw that the eagle bore a shield and when I looked closer they turned out to be the arms of the United States. Now this was strange I tought what are those arms doing there, turns out that the building was finished in 1917 and was built by Pierson & Co Bank who also had an American branche, on the other side of the facade the Dutch arms are depicted.

 

A close up

 

http://xs538.xs.to/xs538/09172/vs_big155.jpg

 
Charles E. Drake
 
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Charles E. Drake
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21 April 2009 16:06
 

Good find!

What are the "supporters"?  Mercury and Moses?  Mercury and Solon?

 

/Charles

 
Wilfred Leblanc
 
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Wilfred Leblanc
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21 April 2009 16:41
 

The sinister supporter is reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Moses from the tomb of Pope Julius.

 
emrys
 
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emrys
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22 April 2009 05:39
 

I did some digging and the supporters are meant to represent trade and shipping.

 
David E. Cohen
 
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David E. Cohen
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22 April 2009 07:07
 

So Mercury for trade.  And perhaps Neptune for shipping (with his trident broken off).

 
Robert Tucker
 
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Robert Tucker
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22 April 2009 10:03
 

David might be right… could be Neptune. Mercury—Messenger of the Gods, god of trade and commerce, with Neptune—God of Seas and the ocean.  The staff could have been a trident.

For some reason I thought of St. Christopher as well.  Usually depicted as a bearded man with a staff….(usually don’t see him without the Christ Child on his shoulders though.)

 

Great pics Ton!  Thanks for posting.  :D

 
Dohrman Byers
 
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Dohrman Byers
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22 April 2009 12:46
 

Is that, perhaps, waves of the sea under Neptune’s (?) feet?

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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22 April 2009 15:04
 

very cool Ton!!! 8)

 
Doug Welsh
 
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Doug Welsh
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23 April 2009 13:54
 

I don’t see a "broken staff" in the right hand of the sinister "supporter".  I see a marshall’s baton or a closed scroll.  Similar in fact to the caduceus held by Mercury.  Possibly "Jove" rather than "Moses"?.

 
David E. Cohen
 
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David E. Cohen
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23 April 2009 14:00
 

Ton, we need this settled right now.  Climb up there and find out whether that staff is broken or not, and report back to the forum.

 
Doug Welsh
 
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Doug Welsh
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23 April 2009 14:06
 

David, David, such impatience!  You must learn to control that.

:wink:  :hypno:

 
emrys
 
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emrys
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23 April 2009 14:27
 

Well I will walk by tomorrow and take a picture from a different angle perhaps it will reveal what the statue represents

 
Sergej Oudman
 
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Sergej Oudman
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23 April 2009 17:20
 

You can find virtually in every capital in Europe buildings from that era related to trade and banking about the US. Most of these buildings are now part of a city’s heritage. I know of at least 7 cities in Europe with buildings like this.

 
Alexander Liptak
 
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Alexander Liptak
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23 April 2009 22:02
 

Sometimes things like Trade and Shipping are personified themselves.  That would make sense to make Trade similar to Mercury, as he was the protector of shippers and traders.  And for Shipping, something like a Neptune is also easy to imagine an illusion to.  An admiral’s baton rather than a trident would make sense, as Shipping would refer to a fleet rather than control of the whole sea.

 
emrys
 
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emrys
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24 April 2009 13:12
 

The climb to the top was not necessary I found a book in which it was stated that the statues are Mercury and Neptune. It could be that the top part of the trident has fallen off but it seems that Neptune was not always depicted with a trident but also with a staff.

 
ninest123
 
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ninest123
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29 June 2017 21:33
 

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