Author: NEPK

H.J. Etienne, 1954, 25 years AaBe woolen blankets factory, bronze, 60 mm, NEPK2599

Who in the Netherlands does not recognize the AaBe logo shown on this medal? Sown in a corner of a woolen blanket, it used to be found in almost every Dutch household. Nowadays, most families prefer down-filled duvets to woolen blankets, so blankets have largely disappeared. Changing consumer preferences and the competition of low-wage countries forced AaBe and others to adapt, slim down, and specialize in new, high quality, niche markets in order to survive.

The NEPK collection comprises some two dozen interesting medals related to the textile industry and associated retail. The corporate history behind the AaBe medal illustrate the development of economic activities in the Netherlands; both its prosperous and its difficult times. This should not surprise us. The concept of medals “to illustrate the development of Dutch economic activities” is the foundation of the NEPK medal collection, and was actively promoted by its founder.

Medal NEPK2724 (75 years of Royal Steam Weaving and Spinning Mill (KSW) in Nijverdal) has a personal meaning for me. It reminds me of the long lines of men who left the village of my childhood every morning to cycle to work at KSW or a related textile factory. Just as AaBe, KSW is a good example of the upward and downward developments of the once large textile industry in the Netherlands.

In short, go to www.NEPK.nl (UK language), select the pull-down menu “Group” and select the keyword “Textile”. The result will be some 20 interesting medals on this theme.

For the AaBe medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2599

The KSW medal is found through: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2724

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

 

J.C. Wienecke, 1923, Chamber of Commerce for the Utrecht area, silver, 60 mm, NEPK2628

This summer the NEPK collection received a donation of almost 80 medals from the archives of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce. While the number of regional Chambers of Commerce was almost 100 around 1900, due to centralisation there is now only one. This Chamber has donated its collection of medals, originating from the different regional chambers, to NEPK. With this transfer, the medals are registered and preserved in a museum collection. Through the NEPK website their description and images are now unlocked for the general public.

About 20 of the newly acquired medals are issued by one of the Dutch chambers, 25 are gifts received from foreign chambers, and some 20 other medals received by chambers. Of special interest are five large scale models, a bronze model for die cutting, an electrotype and four other metal tokens of recognition of the Dutch Chamber.

By nature, the medals of the chambers are Medals of Honour of Medals of Merit. The medal obverse often shows a caduceus, Mercury’s hat, cogwheels, a sledge hammer, factories and a ship as symbols of trade and industry.

The medal reverses are generally simple: a wreath and space for inscription. Many of the donated medals have indeed been personalised by an inscription, which makes them historically even more interesting.

On the NEPK site you can find all above medals by using the search term:

“(deel KVK-schenking)”. Please note: the apostrophes are part of the search term.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2628

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

Photo: Touchscreen display with portrait medals of Erasmus.

The new exposition in the touchscreen display presents and describes over 100 medals with the portrait of Erasmus. Besides medals in the university’s NEPK collection, some exceptional medals on loan from the Erasmus Collection in Library Rotterdam are shown, plus some portrait medals coming from members of the Rotterdam Numismatic Circle. To complete the picture, some 25 descriptions and images of Erasmus sculptures and portraits in Rotterdam’s public space have been added, plus a number of small Erasmus desk sculptures.

The motivation for this Erasmus exposition lies in the fact that in 2023 it is exactly 50 years ago that the university was named Erasmus University Rotterdam. The university, jointly with the Erasmus Collection in Library Rotterdam, commemorate this with the exposition “Erasmus, the Man, the Myth, the Legend” in the University Library. With books, imagery, citations, etc. the exposition focuses on the impact of Erasmus through time.

As you will understand, this provides an ideal opportunity to present the often little or sometimes even fully unknown medals with Erasmus’ portrait in the NEPK collection together with those in the Erasmus Collection in Library Rotterdam. In parallel to the NEPK medal exposition a specific publication on the recently rediscovered Erasmus medals in the Erasmus Collection has been prepared, which will be submitted to the numismatic magazine “De Beeldenaar”.

The exposition can be viewed for some 12 months, until the fall of 2024.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2213

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

 

Maarten Pauw, ~1947, Medal of car company Jongerius, silver, 50 mm, NEPK2609

The medals for long term employment described in the previous NEPK news item almost all refer to 25 of 40 years of employment. A medal for 12,5 years of employment is rare, especially a silver one. The obverse shows the portrait of Jan Jongerius, successful Ford dealer, against the backdrop of his repair shops along the Merwede canal in Utrecht. The reverse features a car mechanic and a Ford automobile, with in between the Utrecht city shield with the initials JJ. With this medal, medallist Maarten Pauw (1912-1966) did not only honour the recipient plus also paid tribute to a unique entrepreneur.

Jan Jongerius (“Jan Ford”) (1888-1941) was a real entrepreneur. At an early stage he saw the challenges and opportunities that the coming of the automobile brought. In the early 1920-ies he obtained the dealership of Texaco fuels and his company started to develop petrol stations all over the area. In 1925 he bought a car repair shop and obtained the dealership of Ford automobiles. From 1935 N.V. Jongerius was the largest Ford dealer in the Netherlands, with garages in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Arnhem and elsewhere. He was widely known as “Jan Ford”. Along the Merwede canal in Utrecht he built production halls where he assembled busses, lorries, tank trucks and the first tow truck in the Netherlands. After his death in 1941 at 53 years of age, the company slowly fell into decline, to go bankrupt in 1953/1954.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2609

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

   

’s Rijks Munt, 1960, Medal of Merit for 40 years of employment, gilt, 63 mm, NEPK2038
(company: N.V. Van Werven; employee: M.N. Forsman)

The subject of the present NEPK news item is not a specific medal in the NEPK collection, but the medals of Merit of the Netherlands Society for Industry and Trade (NMNH), awarded for long term employment.  NMNH was founded during the period of the Enlightenment, to promote industry and trade. The reverse legend states: “Increase of popular Prosperity is the Society’s objective”. The obverse features a classic personification of Industry and Trade, holding a laurel wreath in her right hand and leaning on a state shield with her left. David van der Kellen, die cutter at ’s Rijks Munt designed the first version in 1861. In 1877 JPM Menger created a new design, and since then the design was again adjusted several times, notably in 1903 and 1954. From 1903 to 1996 and perhaps later, ‘s Rijks Munt has struck many thousands of these medals, and inscribed them with names and dates to commemorate long term employment. They exist in bronze, silver, gold and gilt, with various diameters. Besides as medals, they are also realised as lapel pins, lapel buttons and brooches. On www.NEPK.nl they can easily be found by searching with search term “NMNH-1” from the pull-down menu “Group”.  Please observe the differences in shield, wreath and facial expression. Of economic interest are the employer names. Besides existing companies as Albert Heyn and Haagsche Courant, medals issued on behalf of former retail chains and companies such as P. de Gruyter, V&D, NKF, Werkspoor, Werf GUSTO, Cemsto Cleaning and others are represented in the collection.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2038

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

 

Taeke Friso de Jong, 1992, bronze, cast, 152 mm, NEPK2566

The occasion for the medal shown was the joint presentation of the three Water Boards Delfland, Rijnland and Schieland at the horticultural exposition Floriade ’92. The location of this 10-year event was the Rokkeveen part of Zoetermeer. Each of the three water boards is responsible for the surface water management for its area of Rokkeveen. A centuries old border marker near the water tower in Rokkeveen denotes the location where the three water board areas meet each other. At Floriade ’92 the three decided to present their tasks in surface water management in a joint pavilion. Besides their traditional responsibility of protection against high water they now also have the responsibility for maintaining the quality of the surface waters. In the pavilion, a large three-dimensional scale model of The Netherlands drew many visitors. In less than 30 minutes the visitors could see how the lower parts of the country would flood in the absence of proper dike protection, and how the water would recede when the tides go out. The presentation of water quality issues was also informative and appreciated.

The medal’s obverse shows the flora and fauna of the surface waters, stressing their relevance. The texts seem to be flowing casually but elegantly between the pictural elements. The reverse shows a black-tailed godwit on its wings over the water rich landscape between the coastline in the west, the Rotterdam Waterway in the south and the North Sea Canal in the north. The old border marker is prominently present.

The medal has an unusually large diameter and has a beautiful green patina.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2566

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

 

Dick Apon / Eric van den Boom, 1977, bronze, cast, 73 mm, NEPK2554

The medal’s obverse shows a plan view of the Adriaanstichting – Mytylschool for handicapped children located in Rotterdam-Schiebroek. The text on the reverse states the 20 years process of preparation, design and realisation of the building complex. Along the edge the name of the architects company is given: APON – VAN DEN BERG – TER BRAAK – TROMP – ARCHITEKTEN.

The four above named architects founded the company, later simply renamed ABBT, in 1955. Dirk Cornelis (Dick) Apon studied architecture at the HTS (polytechnic) in Rotterdam and completed the Academies of Architecture in Amsterdam en Rotterdam. Apon was a leading advocate of the so-called ‘structuralism’, a view on architecture that stresses the architects’ role in society, the creation of space in a metaphorical way: freedom for and participation by the user. This is expressed by the geometrical arrangement of the key elements to create one coherent form without a clear hierarchy (structures). This is visible not only in the design of the Mytylschool, but equally in ABBT designs such as the church in Kinderdijk (1962), the Dutch embassy building in New Delhi (1962-1972) and the crematorium in Rotterdam-Zuid (1968-1969). A striking feature of the plan forms of these buildings is the orientation at a 45 degrees angle relative to the main axis of the building site and the road.

The most well-known ABBT design with this feature is the complex Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 in The Hague, realised in 1985 to house the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2021 it is used as the temporary home of the Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber of Parliament), until the renovation of the Binnenhof complex has been completed.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2554

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

Tom Waakop Reijers, 1994, bronze, cast, 87,5 mm, NEPK2534)

The topic this time is a medal of the Rotterdam city district Noord.

Between 1981 and 2014 a city council could decide to create city districts (deelgemeenten), each with its own people’s representation, called district council (deelraad), similar to city council (gemeenteraad). They also had a district executive council (compare with council of mayor and aldermen). Rotterdam was divided in 14 city districts, e.g. Centre, Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hook of Holland and Noord. This democracy close to the people was short lived, however. At the city council elections of 2014, the city districts were replaced by city areas (gebieden), with area committees (gebiedscommissies). Most likely these did not function satisfactorily either, since after only eight years, in March 2022, the area committees were replaced by area advisory committees, with even fewer powers and authority.

A few Rotterdam city districts had their own Medal of Merit. City district Noord had its “Bokel medal”, named after the medieval Rotterdam family Bokel. The medal could be awarded to “persons who have contributed to innovative and permanent improvements for the whole city district”. The obverse shows a reconstruction of Rotterdam around the year 1300, plus a north indicating compass. The obverse shows the Bokel family seal between the legs of a large medieval compass of the type that in those times was used to measure land. The medal was designed by the Rotterdam sculptor and medallist Tom Waakop Reijers. Just ten copies of the medal were cast, with the first being awarded on March 23, 1994.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2539

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

(unknown artist, possibly Hildo Krop, realisation before 1921, silver, struck, 25,5 mm, NEPK2539)

In this news flash we discuss a small Medal of Merit, which was awarded exactly one hundred years ago to an employee of engineering works Gebr. Stork & Co in Hengelo. The obverse shows a row of five powerful workers who simultaneously swing their sledge hammers to mould the metal in the desired shape. The reverse legend shows the name of the factory. The medal is intended for one particular person, see the engraving on its reverse: “1896 – 1921 J.H. GRUYTERS 21 DECEMBER”. The image and texts are worn; probably the medal was polished often. It could have been carried along in the receiver’s pocket or purse for years. Wear and traces of polishing are often seen on these small diameter medals commemorating 25 or 40 years of service to a company or organisation. The NEPK collection, being a collection of medals with an economic relation, features over 150 of medals of merit. They were typically intended for common employees, who were proud to have received it. Besides this medal with a specific design for a particular factory, company or organisation, generic medals for 25 or 40 years of service exist, provided by industry-wide umbrella organisations. An example is the commemoration medal that the Nederlandse Maatschappij van Nijverheid en Handel NMNH (Netherlands Association for Industry and Trade) made available to its members. Besides name and dates of the employee, member organisations almost always had their own name engraved. (For examples on www.NEPK.nl, use the key word “NMNH” in the pull-down menu “Group”).

Two questions remain for the medal shown: why was the recipient’s name erased? And is Hildo Krop indeed the medallist? If not, who could it be?

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2539

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/

 

(anonymus, realisation  ~1896 – ~1928, silver, struck, 32 mm, NEPK2502)

This summer an unusual medal was donated to the NEPK collection: an American high school prize medal with the portrait of Erasmus. The name of the school: “Erasmus Hall – High School”, located in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.

The portrait is based on the well-known Erasmus painting by Hans Holbein de Younger of 1523, now in the Louvre, Paris, but with Erasmus facing right.

The person who donated the medal recalled his pleasant years at this school, in the early fifties. It appeared that the high school had ties with the city of Rotterdam already a century ago. In those years, one of the former school board members commissioned the Rotterdam sculptor Simon Miedema (1860 – 1934) to have a copy cast of the iconic Erasmus statue of 1622 by Hendrik de Keyser, presently standing in front of the Laurens church in Rotterdam. On April 25, 1931 the copy was unveiled in the school’s inner courtyard in New York where it stands till the present day. (As a side note: since 2008 another copy of the Erasmus statue stands in the grounds of Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. It is a favourite spot of students to have a family picture taken after graduation.)

Erasmus Hall – High School in New York has an even earlier link with the Netherlands. It was in 1787 that members of the Dutch Reformed Church in Flatbush started the school as a small boarding school, giving it the name “Erasmus Hall Academy”, which must have been rather pompous at the time. In 1896 the school was incorporated in the New York educational system, to continue as a public high school, which allowed it to grow. At the time of unveiling the Erasmus statue in 1931 the number of students had reached 5000, with a staff of 250.

The NEPK collection presently comprises some 30 different medals with Erasmus’ portrait, the medal with inventory number NEPK1850 dated 1531 being by far the oldest. Erasmus himself commissioned this 1531 silver medal, for the purpose of giving it as a very personal gift to friends or persons in high places who had helped him with food and lodging during his many and long journeys across Europe.

For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2502

For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/