guy on V&B tile - what is he?

What is this guy with his sword, walking stick, knee pants and funny hat supposed to be? I think this Villeroy & Boch tile dates from early 1900's ... but this man looks like something out of a Shakespearean play.

 

He's Elizabethan, and I'd think a pilgrim.

 

OK! Thank you, OBB

 

Maybe Christopher Columbus ?

 

Hmmm... That's a good option!
An anniversary maybe???
1892?
1942?

 

He looks rather on the poor side of the tracks to be dressed Elizabethan, although that was my first guess too! Shakespearean seems a closer style match.

 

Perhaps German or Swiss Landsnecht soldier armed with usual Katzbalger sword.

 

Those staffs were known as a quarterstaff aka a stave, balkstaff, shortstaff, etc. This staff however is really too short to be an honest to goodness quarterstaff for they tended to be 5' to 6' long. The quarterstaffs were used in a type of martial arts for ages. Depictions of Robin Hood and his band of "merry men," that sure has a different connotation today, always show at least 1 of them with a staff as a weapon. The quarterstaff tended to be a weapon of the poorer classes, but the art of using it was also practices by the upper classes.

"The Quarterstaff was for centuries considered the weapon of the lower sections of society, although the nobility had a healthy respect for the Quarterstaff, which they also practised. In reality Quarterstaffing, as a fighting art reigned supreme in England for many centuries. The English art of Quarterstaffing has throughout the many centuries, gained its own individuality and traditions. Through the dedication of the men and women, who for generations have brought this majestic weapon forward into the 21st century, with the blood sweat and tears of hard practice, and hard knocks."

With that flat or Tudor hat, pants, cape and tights, the man screams Elizabethan.

--- Susan

 

Ha ... at first I thought "soldier? With those dainty little shoes? .... naaah"
But then I Googled them .... Wow! Except for the headwear, he could sort of be a very toned-down version of a Landsnecht soldier. Never heard of them before ... thanks for the introduction, springfld.

 

Oh, looky ... now I'm learning more new (to me) info from Ladybranch!
Thank you.

 

The main reason that I wanted to nail down what he was / what he was doing, was to see if I could find a other of similar tiles by Villeroy & Boch - since they often produced these in groups for fireplace surrounds and the like. Thought that having more precise keywords would help me find others ... and maybe just confirm my guess on its age. I'm currently only going by the 'Made in Germany' backstamp, which looks to be the same that was used on other ceramic goods from 1874 to 1909.


So far no luck finding any others using any of the suggestions so far ...

 

I liked OBB's suggestion of a pilgrim, because of his walking stick.
I did some searches just using the German words that are impressed in the back of your tile and added one or two more (like "blue" for example). Found lots of nice tiles, but nothing that is in this same design.