Touching acquisition

8 August 2024

This over a decimetre high pipe bowl arrived in our museum by post last week. It is a sympathetic object with a high cuddle factor. Made of meerschaum, it shows a well-behaved dog sitting up with a wide silver collar around its neck that separates the head from the body. Pay particular attention to the mini-lock in the centre of the band. By making air holes in the mouth, the pipe bowl became extra entertaining. When you gently blew into the stem, the dog emitted clouds of smoke. The fact that the smoker also found this an appropriate joke is proven by the darker colouring of the dog's head, caused by excessive passing of smoke. Subtle and simple in design and with a built-in joke, this must have been the favourite of a die-hard pipe smoker. For us, it is now a precious acquisition.

The Sleeping Beauty scenario

4 August 2024

Two colleagues from the heritage world have jointly published a book worth reading with the intriguing title: Handboek Ordelijk Vergeten (Handbook for Ordently Forgetting). In this book, they are protesting against the current practice in the museum world of ‘cleaning up’ collections by de-collecting: items from the depots are removed, sometimes transferred to other museums, but usually destroyed. Gerard Rooijakkers and Frank Bergevoet, both good friends, propose to store collections that are in danger of becoming unmanaged for a very long time and – so to speak – to forget them. Future generations can then decide for themselves whether they still want to exhibit the collection. At least everything will be preserved for a longer period of time. Interesting idea! If you want to know more or order the book, visit: https://www.erfgoedhuis-zh.nl/publicaties/handboek-ordelijk-vergeten