The Warwick Mace

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The Warwick Mace
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Silver Ceremonial Mace Full View.
Catalogue entry QUBSilv/2002059 A silver
ceremonial mace. The cylindrical tapering shaft
supporting a pear shape fluted head decorated
with gilt stars and the university shield
inscribed Presented to the Queens University of
Belfast by the Belfast Corporation on the
occasion of the Jubilee of the granting of the
charter, 8th April 1959. Weight 80 ozs. Length
39 in.
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Detail of the ball of the mace
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• Detail of where the ball meets the shaft
• (photographed on the stand)

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Detail of where the shaft joins the finial
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Opposite side of shaft. The inscription reads
Front Presented by Belfast Corporation to the
Queens University of Belfast.Rear on the
occasion of the celebration of the jubilee of the
grant of its Charter 8th April 1959.
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The top of the ball, showing the University coat
of arms an open Book (symbol of learning), the
seahorse of the city of Belfast, a harp (symbol
of Ireland), a red hand (symbol of the province
of Ulster). The crown in the centre represents
the Queen (i.e. Queen Victoria, founder of the
University).
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Maces Ensigns of Authority

• A mace denotes power. It is a public reminder of
  a social hierarchy stabilized either by force, as
  with early maces, or through ceremony, as with
  maces after about 1500. Possession of a mace
  lends dignity, authority and historical
  authority.
• Maces evolved from medieval metal clubs topped
  with at least four arc-shaped blades designed to
  bear armor. Groups of armed goods,
  sergeants-at-arms, protected the King or Queen
  with maces in hand, the warheads pointing
  upwards. A mace provided the sergeant-at-arms
  with the authority to make an arrest.
• After an act of 1327 forbade citizens to settle
  personal disputed with maces, the right to own a
  mace increasingly depended on rank. The mace took
  on a more ceremonial role coats of arms and
  elaborate decoration diminished its war-like
  appearance. By 1500 the warhead disappeared,
  replaced by a round or flat ended knob. The mace
  turned 180 degrees and over the next 300 years
  the former handle, now facing up, grew into a
  large ornate head expressing the maces civic or
  legal purpose.
• (Information from the Silver Rooms, Victoria and
  Albert Museum, London, 2007)

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How was it made?

• The beauty of silver and the ease with which it
  can be worked have made it a favoured metal since
  at least the 3rd millennium BC. Although silver
  has considerable strength, it is malleable enough
  to work cold or at a low temperature, making it
  an ideal material for use in a small workshop.
• Objects were often built up from separate parts
  worked by different techniques and assembled with
  solder (molten metal), rivets or perhaps mounted
  on a central shaft. These methods encouraged
  specialisation and the workshop and apprentices
  could train in a particular branch of the trade
• Silver was shaped and decorated using a variety
  of techniques. Three-dimensional objects could be
  raised from flat sheets of silver hammered over
  an anvil. Techniques for surface decoration
  included chasing, enamelling, damascening,
  niello, engraving and piercing.
• (Information from the Silver Rooms, Victoria and
  Albert Museum, London, 2007)