5 Straatjes

In case you hadn't realised I've moved.

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These figureheads were used outside buildings to indicate that it was a pharmacy. The one pictured at right is still above a pharmacy (on Herenstraat) but one near this is the sign for the "de Vergulde Gaper" a cafe on Prinsengracht.

They're named "gaper" because they appear to be yawning, in fact they're not yawning they're receiving medicine - sometimes you can see a pill resting on his tongue.

Most of the surviving gapers feature Moors, with black skin, turbans and bright clothes, but older ones, now in museums, had white Dutch faces. You can see examples of this in the City Archives.

The Gaper represents the apothecary's assistant, who would travel with him to local markets, and would demonstrate the efficacy of his medicines by being magically cured. At some point it became popular to have a Moor take this role - whose coloured costume and lively dance added to the show.

After about 1500 cities started to develop to the point where shopkeepers had permanent stores rather than going to a market. Pharmacists took on the Gaper as a symbol over the door that the, still largely illiterate, public would recognise.

There is a collection of about 150 Gapers at the the Het Nederlands Drogisterij Museum (the Dutch Drugstore Museum) in Maarssen.

I had lunch at a cafe near the flowermarket today and noticed that the back of the flower sheds has been decorated to look like the front of the market. It looks quite tacky - particularly as the trompe d'oeil effect is spoilt by the water on this side of the stalls.

It's supposedly the world's only floating flowermarket, but it's barely that, the stalls are firmly attached and most of what you see as you wander along the market is set out on solid ground.

However last time I looked these sheds were rough corrugated perspex so this is an improvement.




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But I can't help being a little nostalgic.... a hundred years ago the
flower sellers did bring their produce in on small, flat-bottomed boats, and sell it in this area as shown in the Jacob Olie photo at left.





photo is from the Amsterdam Gemeentearchief website, they have an imagebank where you can download or order photos.

Labels: bloemmarkt, flowermarket

The photos are now all up at the Westerkerk, they're wonderful wildlife photos by Steve Bloom. The exhibition will be on from now until the end of July and is lit at night - actually at night might be the best time to go.

The photos are stunning, I think my favourite is the one of elongated shadows cast by giraffes.

Labels: art, Westerkerk

There's an outdoor exhibition of photos of animals outside the Westerkerk. But when I went past earlier this week the exhibition stands where assembled but empty. The looked forlorn and a little tomblike under the dappled light of the trees.

Labels: art, Westerkerk