Doorkeeper's Mace
Portuguese Workshop
Gilded silver, chiselled and perforated
First quarter of 16th century
91 cm (H) x 10 cm (W)
From the Funchal Cathedral
MASF65


The mace or baton has the barrel and the head of the staff. The barrel, octagonal in cross-section, is divided by four nodes, the largest of which at the top, at the connection with the head of the baton. A cord extends over the profile of the edges of the octagonal volume of the barrel, as well as over the nodes, with the exception of the grip of the mace.
The head of the baton, in the form of an urn, has the base adorned with perforated and engraved openings. There is a smooth frame on the belly that makes the link between the two parts. The upper part of the head is semi-spherical, with engraved and perforated quadrangular surfaces. Above this, there is a cylindrical form, with perforated openings, flanked by four small wings and crowned by a pinnacle that ends in a sphere.
A chain links the ends of the barrel.
D. Manuel offered this doorkeeper's mace to the Funchal Cathedral. It is mentioned in the receipt by the canon Álvaro Lopes dated on 6 December 1527, a white mace with chains that weighed eight marks, seven and one-half eighth ounces.¹
The head of the baton or mace is from a later era, probably the end of the 16th century/early 17th century, right in line with the plain goldsmithery style.
It was used in solemn liturgical activities as a symbol of episcopal authority.
Exhibited at the Convent of Santa Clara in 1951.


¹ Torre do Tombo, Manuscritos da Sé maço 7, em PITA FERREIRA, A Sé do Funchal, p. 175.