Collectors item, Originele Intec Gaper nr 26 - Sculpture, handgeschilderd, apotheek - 20 cm - ground natural stone

Rare intec Gaper number 26. See and read the booklet. Collection of 41 gapers, issued and made by the company Intec in Veenendaal. Only drugstores and pharmacists with sufficient turnover received these, unique, hand-painted gapers. All of ground natural stone, only number 41, the last is of resin. The molds were eventually 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 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 gaper remains a mysterious phenomenon. Its origin is unknown. There are various explanations for its characteristic, the wide-open mouth. A physician; showing your tongue for a diagnosis, and then taking the prescribed medication. Some gapers 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 gapers are orientals with a turban. There are also jesters, policemen, firemen, Roman soldiers and the sick