Sculpture, Intec gaper nr 31, handgeschilderd, collectors item - 19.5 cm - crushed natural stone - 1975

intec Gaper number 31. See and read the booklet. Collection of 41 gapers, published and made by the company Intec in Veenendaal. Only drugstores and chemists with sufficient turnover received these unique, hand-painted gapers. All of ground natural stone, only number 41, the last one is of resin. The molds were eventually destroyed in front of the guests at a farewell party of the Company

Gapers were identification marks for pharmacies, chemists and drugstores. They first appeared at the end of the sixteenth century and are only found in Dutch, Frisian and Flemish language areas. Most of those still used as identification marks date from the nineteenth century or are replicas.
The yawn remains a mysterious phenomenon. The origin is unknown. There are several explanations for its characteristic, the wide-open mouth. A physician; showing your tongue for a diagnosis, and then taking the prescribed medications. Some yawners have a pill on their tongue or a match in their mouth. Another explanation could be that the sick person, overcome by fatigue, lets his mouth fall open. The most common yawners are Orientals with a turban. There are also jesters, policemen, firefighters, Roman soldiers and sick

Gapers are real folk art products and only occurred in the Netherlands and Flanders