Sculpture, intec gaper nr 41, handgeschilderd, collectors item - 19 cm - resin - 1985

intec Gaper number 41. See and read the booklet. Collection of 41 gapers, issued 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 made of resin. The molds were eventually destroyed at a farewell party of the Firm in the presence of the guests.

Gapers were identification marks for pharmacies, chemists and drugstores. They appeared for the first time at the end of the sixteenth century and occur only in Dutch-, Frisian-, and Flemish-language areas. The most that are still used as recognition 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 one; showing your tongue for a diagnosis, and then taking the prescribed medicines. Some gapers have a pill on the tongue or a sulfur match in the mouth. Another explanation could be that the patient, overwhelmed by fatigue, lets his mouth hang open. The most common gapers are Easteners with a turban. Furthermore there are fools, police officers, firefighters, Roman soldiers and patients.
We ship it to you very well packed but cannot be held liable for damage during transport.