Sculpture, Intec Gaper nr 14, Collectors item, handgeschilderd - 19 cm - ground natural stone - 1966

Rare Intec Gaper number 14. small chip on the underside. See and read the booklet. Collection of 41 gapers, published and produced by the company Intec in Veenendaal. Only drugstores and pharmacies with sufficient turnover received these, unique, hand-painted gapers. All made of ground natural stone, only number 41, the last one is of resin. The molds were finally destroyed at a farewell party of the company in front of the guests.

Gapers were identification marks for pharmacies, chemists and drugstores. They first appeared at the end of the sixteenth century and occur only in the Dutch, Frisian, and Flemish language areas. Most of those still used as identification marks date from the nineteenth century or are replicas.

The gaper remains an enigmatic phenomenon. The origin is unknown. For its feature, the wide-open mouth, there are several explanations. A medical expert: showing your tongue for a diagnosis, and then taking the prescribed medicines. Some gapers even have a pill on the tongue or a sulfur match in the mouth. Another explanation could be that the patient, overwhelmed by fatigue, lets the mouth fall open. The most common gapers are easterners wearing a turban. Furthermore there are fools, police officers, firefighters, Roman soldiers and the sick.