Heads

Heads

Badges featuring heads and busts are very popular. These are clearly non-religious representations. There is a wide variety: devil heads, medieval headgear, busts with text or imitation jewellery.

Busts

Various badges show the bust of a man or woman. You can recognise the gender mainly by the hairstyle. Men have short hair, while women have their hair pinned up on both sides of their heads. It is not surprising that busts are so common. Busts are also a common motif in expensive jewellery made of precious metals. The pewter and lead examples therefore imitate these precious items.

Some of the badges show a bust in a circle. Letters surround it. It is striking that the letters do not always form a word. They are a random sequence of letters, mirrored letters or shapes that only vaguely resemble letters. So there is no message to be found in the text. Meaningless letters are apparently sufficient. This may indicate that the owners were illiterate.

Kaproen

There are also badges of a hood, with or without a head inside the hood. The hood was a commonly worn head covering in the Middle Ages. It is a cap that covers the head, neck and shoulders. At the back, the hood ends in a long point called the lyre pipe. Although initially it was mainly ordinary men who wore hoods, from the 14th century onwards, wealthy gentlemen also began to wear them.

Devil's heads

Two badges show a different type of head. One is a man's head with his tongue sticking out. This is considered an obscene gesture. Devils often stick out their tongues in the Middle Ages. The beard or hair on the chin also points to a devil or wild man. However, the devil's horns are missing here.

The other devil insignia depicts a devil or demon in full view. This devil has no fewer than five faces! In addition to the face in the usual place, the figure also has a face on its stomach, rear end and two knees. Multi-headed devils or demons also often appear in miniatures. The images are primarily intended to evoke revulsion.