Gaper
A gaper (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣaːpər]) is a stone or wooden figurehead, often depicting a Moor, Muslim, or North African.
The figurehead first appeared in the late 16th century as a hangout sign used outside the storefronts of drug stores in the Netherlands.
The meaning of gaper is the same in English; the figurehead is always displayed with an open mouth, sometimes with a pill resting on his tongue.
The gaper takes on various appearances that are symbolic of the origin for the pharmacist’s practice or medicinal ingredients.
During the 17th century, Western European trade with continents such as Asia and Africa introduced new spices from far and unknown places.
Europeans traded with the Ottomans for senna leaves, opium, saffron, turmeric, and various resins, gums, and minerals, incense, myrrh, and bitumen.
Recent research indicates that the open mouth originates from the way the chemist's customers gaped with astonishment when they saw the enormous variety of exotic substances inside.
The oriental gapers are categorized between two identities: the Muslim and the Moor, both referring to people from the Maghreb in North-West Africa.
There are also many white gapers, often looking very ill with a pale skin color or having a facial expression of suffering and pain.
[4] The gaper referring to illness or a sick patient commonly wore a hat with a hanging point with a tassel or pom-pom attached to it.
The gapers in uniform were introduced during the second half of the 19th century after the government extended authority on the sale of medicines.
[1] The helper acted as a patient who, for example, would picture the miracle provided and instantly healed his illness.
[2] As a symbol for the jester or help, the gaper would perform silly acts outside the store or in privacy to entertain customers and bring in more business.
The Oriental dressed gaper possibly refers to the use of ingredients such as aloe vera, opium and gum arabic in medicines.
Historical images show that the cap with a hanging point and tassel, similar to some hats depicted on gapers, was regularly worn by the 16th-century pharmacists.
The gaper on the facade of Wijde Heisteeg 4 was stolen and delivered back in 2004 on the sidewalk outside the Municipal Archive on the Amsteldijk.
Others received a lead plate on top of their hats so the rain did not end up directly on the wood.
According to folklore, people used to hang monsters with their tongue sticking out off of buildings to ward off evil spirits.
The Haarlem chemist Anton van Os (1889-1982), for example, gathered at least 50 gapers from all over the country from the 1930s until his death.
