I was just wondering, what exactly are those fun dangly accessories this guy’s got going on?
detail from “Militia Company of District VIII under the Command of Captain Roelof Bicker” by Bartholomeus van der Heist, 1643. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
And then, just a few rooms away, here’s what was hanging on the wall!
“Bandolier, with powder bottles and shot pouch” c.1600-1650.
Here’s what they had to say about it: “Hanging from this belt are twelve wooden containers, each with a charge for a single shot. The powder bottles were also called the Twelve Apostles. The muskateer wore the belt across his chest. He kept his lead shots in a separate leather pouch.”
Museum’s inclusion of costume accessories on display for the WIN!
The term “Twelve Apostles” was first used by Brigadier Peter Young” in the 1969’s, it has no historical basis in fact, but has since become urban myth. Sorry to see that a museum is perpetuating it.
Interesting, I didn’t know that…perhaps something lost in translation from the Dutch? Should I ask their textile curator about it?