This mold is hand carved in the form of a nobleman, in feathered headdress. *This style of headdress dates back to the 1500's. He has flowing hair. Geometrically decorated jacket and pants, Believed to be 19 century.
http://crawfishandcaramel.com/aachener-printen/
Baking of the traditional form of Printen began in the mid-1600s with the arrival of Belgians and their beautiful Couques de Dinant (Dinant Cookie or Cake). These thin, hard and very crisp cookies, similar in texture to Tirggel, were pressed into finely carved molds, yielding beautiful designs reminiscent of Dutch and Belgian Speculaas. Aachen bakers scrambled to recreate this treat. What resulted was a lovely, malleable dough sweetened with honey and raw sugar and scented with warm spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander and anise which could easily be pressed into carved molds still on display in several bakeries.
