Room of Wonder

This is a tactile object. You may touch it.

This is a ’touch-and-feel’ replica of the boer horn or farmer’s horn of Wijster, which served to call up neighbouring farmers to convene at important events such as the start of the harvest. The original object is made from a cow's horn. This replica is made from the horn of a Scottish highlander from the herd grazing near the village of Anloo, in Drenthe. It’s 37 centimetres long and slightly curved. The tip has been removed to create a hole allowing it to be blown.

The original Wijster farmer's horn - a top piece from the Museum’s historical collection - is light brown and decorated all around with drawings. These were first carved into the horn and then rubbed with grease and soot, which is how they got their dark brown colour. The decorations are a fine example of artisanal carving which you can both see and feel here.

The original drawings have been copied as accurately as possible. All around the narrow side of the horn there are various patterns. Furthermore, there are many loose, abstract circular shapes that resemble the sun. There is also an image of a windmill and even one of a unicorn! Among the shapes it says ‘Anno 1715’ and the initials G.P and X.W. Around the narrow side there is a cut-out groove which probably served to hold a brass strip, which even added to the object’s splendour.

Blowing the horn was usually the prerogative of the wealthiest farmer. When blown, the horn could be heard far and wide. Just listen to its sound.

This is a tactile object. You may touch it.

This oil-on-canvas portrait, measuring 75 by 89 centimetres, was painted by Johannes Hinderikus Egenberger. It represents Lucas Oldenhuis Gratama, one of the founders of the Drents Museum. The ’touch-and-feel’ object in front of you is a 3D replica of the portrait and is about 70% of the size of the original.

Gratama is portrayed from the chest up, seen from the front. He is sitting slightly askew and looking to the left, which makes his left shoulder on the right side of the painting stand out a little. Depicted is a dignified, older, white man with silver-grey short hair, a well-groomed moustache and a beard. His serious expression is accentuated by the wrinkles in his forehead. He is neatly dressed in a black jacket and matching waistcoat underneath. His white shirt and black bow tie provide a striking contrast with the dark clothing and the nearly black background.

On the right side of the painting, pinned on the man’s left lapel, there is a crossed-shape medal hanging from an orange-blue ribbon. It’s a royal decoration, known as Knight in the Order of the Netherlands’ Lion. Do feel free to touch and feel it. Also note the cord protruding from the pocket of his waistcoat, which in Gratama's time was called a vest. There was probably a pocket watch attached to it.  

Lucas Oldenhuis Gratama was born on 7 June 1815 in Assen. He first worked as a lawyer, later on he became a judge. He was also active in politics. He started his political career in Assen and eventually ended up in the Dutch Lower House where he always stood up for the interests of Drenthe. He was co-founder of the Provincial Museum of Antiquities, now the Drents Museum. As a member of the Provincial Council, he worked hard for the preservation of the ‘hunebedden’ or dolmens in the Netherlands. 
 

This is a tactile object. You may touch it.

This ‘tactile landscape’ allows you to feel a still life by Henk Helmantel. In 2004 Helmantel selected archaeological finds from the museum’s collection and painted them in oil on hardboard. The painting depicts an earthenware loom weight, five pots and an elongated wooden object. Here you can feel replicas of the loom weight and the pots. They’re about seventy per cent of the size of the actual earthenware objects. They're placed exactly as in the painting. The wooden object – a weapon – at the centre of the painting is missing from the tactile landscape.

On the left is a small, rounded object with a hole running through it. This is the loom weight. It would have been used in weaving to keep the vertical threads taut. Next to it are two funnel-necked beakers – one large and one small. Both have bulbous bases with thin vertical marks that were scratched into the wet clay, probably with a piece of bone. Above the bulbous base is a tall, smooth section that widens towards the top like a funnel.

To the right of the smaller beaker is a bowl whose exterior is richly decorated with patterns of dots. It has two small protrusions that you can hook your fingers under to help lift it. The largest pot, at the back, has a gently convex curvature. The diameter of its mouth is slightly larger than the diameter of the base and the exterior has a rough texture.

The pot furthest to the right is a bucket. About a finger’s width below the rim are four protrusions that are evenly distributed around the pot’s circumference. These make it easier to lift the pot.

The still life is 100 centimetres high and 122 centimetres wide. Helmantel carefully selected the pots and the loom weight in the museum’s storage. He consciously looked for objects with their own ‘past’. In the painting, he has placed them on a blue-painted wooden surface in front of a cream-colored plaster wall.

The wooden surface, the wall and the pots all show signs of wear and tear. Flaking paint, holes in the wall and stains on the plaster are nicely balanced by the cracks and chips in the pots.

The pots in the tactile landscape were made by students at Leiden University, using old techniques. By placing dried plant materials between the objects during the firing process, they appear to have been fired on an open fire, as they would have been in the past, giving them their unique colouring of red, beige and black.

This is a tactile object. You may touch it.

This Spanish army pot from the late 16th century is part of the museum’s collection. It's about 20 centimetres high and is made of bronze. It was probably found somewhere in the peat bogs around Emmen.

The pot has a convex belly and a wide flared mouth. On both sides are ears that extend horizontally from the lip and then descend at a sharp angle. A piece of metal with a sharp point is bent around one ear. It's probably the remnant of a handle that was once attached to both ears.

The pot has three legs. This allows it to stand firmly because objects with three legs are more stable than those with four. The pot appears to have been damaged in several areas and repaired with pieces of bronze. These areas are slightly thicker than the rest of the pot.

The name ‘Spanish army pot’ comes from the story of the Relief of Leiden. On the 3rd of October 1574, an orphan boy was the first person to explore the abandoned Spanish camp outside the city. There he found a cooking pot filled with stew, left behind by the enemy.

Whether or not the story is true is uncertain, but since then bronze cooking pots from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have been called 'Spanish army pots' in the Netherlands.

 

This is a scent point. Here you can smell a scent.

Can you smell that? It smells like gunpowder from a gunshot or an explosion. Quite a few dolmens were demolished by blowing them up using gunpowder. The gunpowder was poured into a hole drilled into one of the stones. Before being detonated, gunpowder smells of sulphur. After combustion, it smells of a mixture of charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre. This scent is connected to the powder horn in the showcase to your right.

Glossy desserts 

This artist’s studio resembles a supermarket that went out of business a few years ago. In fact, you’ll find quite a selection of food past its expiry date. Dripping hams and mummified slices of cake – just a sample of the deteriorating goodies.  

Yet freshly made desserts can be seen too. Because when Arnout van Albada paints, he needs to have the product that he’s painting next to him, so that he can sneak a peek now and then. And see how the surface of this chocolate pudding, for example, reflects the light.  

You might wonder why this artist paints puddings. That answer is actually quite simple. He loves desserts. And, of course, they’re beautiful. But they also make him nervous. After all, puddings are quite difficult to capture realistically. Quite a challenge! 

A female metalworker 

You might not think of lamps, boxes and plates as ‘art’. But they can be art, too. It’s called applied art. This dish with bullheads and eels was made around 1905. The design was created by Johanna van Eijbergen. A woman. Life for a woman metalwork designer wasn’t easy. Because in her time, it was a world dominated by men. 

This is also obvious in reviews: critics don’t always take her work as a designer seriously. One art critic wrote: ‘If we mention Miss van Eijbergen as the designer, we must not forget that Mr Dijkhoff was the executor; for what would a good design be without good execution?’ That’s quite remarkable. Because when male metalwork designers were involved, critics never mentioned the executor. At least, in Johanna van Eijbergen’s day. Fortunately, times have changed. 

Odoorn culture  

Beautifully decorated pots, strange-looking forms, erect penises, and pottery statues of male figures. All the hallmarks of the heritage of an advanced culture. At least, that’s what staff at several Dutch museums thought.  

Arends and Wiert Egberts; two brothers from the Drenthe village of Odoorn, began unearthing these objects in 1889. Many people believed the figurines were relics of the long-lost culture of Odoorn. Was it perhaps a prehistoric culture? Or possibly medieval? What mythical past did these extraordinary objects spring from? In 1899 the Drents Museum was still young, and wanted to be able to tell a new story about the history of Drenthe. Finding an answer to the questions about the Odoorn culture felt a little like answering the questions ‘who are we?’ and ‘where do the people of Drenthe come from?’. 

Hundreds of figurines and pots found their way into Dutch museums. But when someone tried to wash a pottery statuette in water, it suddenly fell apart! These prehistoric clay artefacts weren’t fired at all. They’re fakes! The Egberts brothers made every single one of them and sold many to the Drents Museum, which was desperate for an origin story. 

Self-portrait of a dandy artist  

Looking at this self-portrait, you’d probably be surprised to know that Willem van Konijnenburg was only 18 when he painted it. With his knotted tie, full beard and self-assured expression, he looks much older. But the fact that he portrays himself that way isn't so surprising. It’s probably exactly what he intended. Because in the time he which he lived, the artist was known as a dandy, someone who puts a lot of care into looking stylish and fashionable. By dressing well and being involved in cultural life, he made sure many people knew who he was. 

As well as making art, Van Konijnenburg taught. One of his most famous pupils was Wilhelmina, the queen of the Netherlands. Unfortunately, she wasn’t altogether satisfied with his lessons. The queen wanted to learn to paint realistic landscapes, and Van Konijnenburg couldn’t help her to do that. That’s because he had stopped painting realistically, and begun working in a clean, geometric style. 

Rescued from a peat bog – the coin hoard of Roswinkel  

Mr Kremer was no stranger to days of long, hard work. In May 1870, he and some other labourers were digging peat in the peat bog between Emmen and Roswinkel. The peat was intended to be used as fuel to heat the big cities in the west. Peat excavation was such a huge industry that people called peat ‘brown gold’. 

But among that gold, Mr Kremer also unearthed silver! One hundred and forty-five coins were dug out of the peat pit, along with a wooden box and a leather bag containing the hoard. The coins date back to the time of the Carolingian kings: ‘Charlemagne’, ‘Charles the Bald’ and ‘Louis the Stammerer’, who ruled the Frankish empire between 768 and 877. 

Drenthe had only recently been added to that Frankish empire when the hoard of coins ended up in the bog near Roswinkel. At first, the archaeologists who examined the treasure thought someone must have lost the coins. Or perhaps had hidden them on purpose to stop the Vikings getting their hands on them, for example. But other valuable artefacts were also recovered from that bog. Which suggests that they were probably offerings – like those that have been found in Drenthe for thousands of years – and like those largely discovered by peat diggers like Mr Kremer. 

The great history book of Drenthe 

Johan Picardt was a clergyman and physician from Bentheim, Germany. After coming into conflict with his parishioners, he moved to Rhee, a village near Assen. Picardt enjoyed walking, and was fascinated by the history of everything he encountered in Drenthe. He carried out all kinds of research and in 1660 wrote the first detailed history of Drenthe: Annales Drenthiae. In it, he tried to explain all the things he had come across, mixing his own research with folk tales and stories from the Bible. He believed that the megalithic tombs were built by giants from a land south of the biblical land of Canaan. And also claimed that mysterious White Women lived in Drenthe’s many burial mounds. Although most people now no longer believe in giants and White Women, his book is still important for historians and archaeologists. 

Pieces of a story puzzle  

In about 500 BC, an important person was buried on the Bisschopsberg near Darp in Drenthe. This beautiful dagger, which came from what is now France, was found with them. The handle of the dagger looks like a small figure and the leather of the scabbard is still intact! Whether the dagger belonged to a Frenchman who moved to Drenthe during the Iron Age or ended up here through bartering, we don’t know. But one thing’s for sure – the owner of the dagger was no ordinary person. This is why everyone wants to try to find out the story of how it was discovered!  

The dagger was found back in 1923 by a forest ranger named Spin, but it was not until 1946 that an archaeologist called Van Giffen became interested. Unfortunately, he was unable to locate the site. Even an appeal asking for eyewitnesses published in a newspaper in 1977, turned up little information. It wasn’t until 1987, sixty-four years after the find, that we learned more about the incredible dagger. The son of Mr Spin, the forest ranger, said that when he was a boy, he and his father found the grave, which also contained an urn and several spearheads. Which goes to show that piecing together the stories about Drenthe is a puzzle that spans several generations. 

The highway to Assen  
Where’s the little boy with the cow going? This might be your first thought when you see this painting of the Vaart in Assen. George Lourens Kiers made this painting a hundred and fifty years ago. It is packed with fascinating details. Look at the brand new gas lights. From now on, people can leave their own lanterns at home! Do you see the wooden ship at the quay? It is a flat-bottomed barge that transports passengers and cargo between Amsterdam and Assen. The narrow leeboards with iron bands mean that the ship is sturdy enough to sail the Zuiderzee. In the background, in the far distance, is ‘the kolk’. The place where ships can turn around and which skippers sometimes use as a little harbour. But most important, of course, is the Vaart itself. From 1780 onwards, it’s the ‘highway’ to Assen, because before then, the village could only be reached by a dirt road.  

Get digging! 

The Netherlands is home to an extensive network of underground gas pipelines. They also run through areas that may contain buried archaeological treasures. So, when a gas pipeline was laid in 2013, archaeologists were on high alert. And near Zuidlaren in Drenthe, they hit the jackpot: there they found shards of pottery from the last period of the Stone Age, four thousand years old! 

They soon discovered that it was the remains of a large jar that had been buried upside-down. An offering had probably once been placed underneath the pot. They were able to salvage the entire upper part of the jar, which had been standing on its head. 

The question ‘where should we dig?’ is decided by the law. If there’s a chance of finding archaeological artefacts in the earth, archaeologists start digging! And one day, these finds might also find their way into the museum and become part of the story of Drenthe. 

Ten commandments in silver 
The grandfather of Philip Roos, who was Jewish, grew up in Germany. In the 18th century, life there was difficult for impoverished Jews. Levie Maggiel decided to leave for the Netherlands. In Coevorden, he made a new life as a butcher and merchant. But for Jews, life in Drenthe was difficult, too. A maximum of three Jewish families were allowed to live in each municipality. Nevertheless, Levie’s children and grandchildren were quite successful. Grandson Philip Roos became a banker and alderman in Coevorden. On his seventieth birthday, he donated this beautiful silver shield to the town’s synagogue as a decoration for the torah, the holy book. The shield is engraved with the ten commandments, the most important rules of life. Later, the treasures of the Coevorden synagogue travelled far afield. During the Second World War, they ended up in Amsterdam, and in 2021 the Drents Museum bought the shield at an auction in America. 

Mister Drents Museum 
Lucas Oldenhuis Gratama came from a wealthy Drenthe family in Assen. Loeks, as everyone calls him, was a bright young boy and went to grammar school like other children from wealthy families. He went on to study law in Groningen and became a lawyer. Loeks took a passionate interest in the history of Drenthe and, in 1854, he and his friends founded the Drents Museum. You could call him ‘Mister Drents Museum’. He was a member of the board for many years. He also built a large collection of coins and medals for the museum. But not only that. He even commissioned a new provincial government building for Drenthe. This is the beautiful museum building that now houses the Drents Museum. And that’s not all. Loeks also made sure the government bought Drenthe’s megalithic stone graves to preserve them for posterity. 

An intimate summer portrait 

Looking at this painting, you can almost smell summer – the scent of the wickerwork and the freshly gathered sunflowers. Everything in this portrait has a warm, summery, and intimate feel. 

The painting was made by Thérèse Schwartze, one of the most famous portrait painters of her time. She often placed the people in her portraits against a dark background. This brings out the richness of the colours. She also sometimes used the same models, so she knew her subjects well. Schwartze is likely to have used this model on several occasions, too. She met the woman on her many trips to Paris. 

By painting the model as she gazes down, with her lips in a half-smile, Schwartze captured a very specific moment. It could almost be a snapshot. In real life, the painting was probably completed after a very long posing session. 

A Drenthe hero from the Czech Republic 
This helmet belonged to Carel Rabenhaupt, a Czech soldier who came to the Netherlands when he was twenty-four. He was a shrewd military strategist who rose through the army ranks. When the bishops of Münster and Cologne took Coevorden in 1672, Rabenhaupt, who was then aged 70, was given the task of recapturing the city.  

He had successfully defended Groningen against the bishops earlier that year. Rabenhaupt was able to recover Coevorden within a few hours on December 30. This victory was praised throughout the Netherlands, and he was hailed as a hero. However, he couldn’t enjoy his fame for long, as he died three years later. By then, Rabenhaupt had become Drenthe’s highest administrator. As a token of mourning, his helmet was painted black and hung above his grave in the Reformed Church in Coevorden.  

A lost treasure 

This treasure comes from the village of Drouwen in Drenthe. It is an earthenware pot filled with seventy bronze pieces. A genuine Bronze Age treasure! The treasure trove was discovered in 1984 when a farmer, out ploughing his field, unearthed several bronze fragments. Experienced amateur archaeologist Gerard Holtrop was walking through the fields that day, and when he saw the scraps of bronze, knew what it was immediately. A team of archaeologists was called in right away to excavate the entire artefact. 

They discovered that the pot contained the remains of Bronze Age weapons, tools and jewellery. Strangely enough, every item had been broken before being placed inside the jar. Why did the Bronze Age people destroy these beautiful artefacts? And why did they bury the pot afterwards? 

What makes the enigma all the more fascinating is that none of the objects were local. Even the pot is of a type that was not made here. This treasure probably entered the country as a trade commodity, because the materials used to make bronze – copper and tin – cannot be found in the Netherlands. And that means that this treasure trove isn’t only a story about Drenthe – it’s a story about Europe, too.