Forty years ago

4 October 2017

Exactly today it is forty years ago that the still young Don Duco visited researcher and collector Sjoerd Laansma. In the nineteen fifties and sixties Laansma who lived in Gouda, studied the pipe industry and collected clay pipes and paraphernalia. His serious interest was encouraged by the last director of the Zenith pipe works founded 1749, the late Dirk van der Want. That adventure resulted in his stencil printed publication on the pipe makers marks of Gouda. Because Laansma shifted his historical interest in other directions in 1977, he offered his collection of pipe makers tools for sale. That opportunity brought our museum a fine set of tools from the famous firm P. van der Want Gzn. The illustrated rare agate polishing tool is part of this group.

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