Gable stones are carved and often colourfully painted stone tablets, which are set into the walls of buildings, usually at about 4 metres from the ground. They serve both to identify and embellish the building and may also tell us something about its owner.
This one at the "Prinsengracht" in Amsterdam is not an old one as you can see from the date. The owner of the house made a joke with this stone and probably his name. The "Batenburg" stone shows puns on the word "baten" (to profit) and burg (castle) which together make up the name of a village near Nijmegen. In that village coins were made which were counterfeit, the weight wasn't secure and the counterfeit coins made gold out of silver for the makers.
Wat leuk! Ik had geen idee van die gevelstenen. Denk dat ik ze wel eens gezien heb, maar verder nooit over nagedacht.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThat is an interesting tradition and this one is a clever piece of work.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI have never heard of this before. How interesting!
BeantwoordenVerwijderensame as nellies. had no clue about that. how interesting!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenhee dat is leuk, ze zijn me noooit opgevallen maar ik ga er nou op letten.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenIk ben er zeer verbaast hoe groot die grachtenhuizen zijn.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenGroetjes,
Filip
Interessant, ik wist dat ook niet. Leuk!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI think in addition to obvious wealth (such a house in Amsterdam)he has a sense of humor!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenWhat interesting detail presented by this gable stone. The humor may not be caught by the casual observer but you gave us the great puns and joke in this one!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBises,
Genie
ah, that's a nice tradition, to personalize a building. I'm not sure it would catch on here, though, I think people would want to remain anonymous.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThat's the great thing about blogging, you learn something new all the time. I like this homeowners sense of humour.
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