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You are now standing in Tinnegietersteeg in front of an intriguing picture of a pipe. With underneath in mirror image: 'ceci n'est pas une pipe'. That means: this is not a pipe. Uh, how so? I'll tell you.
On a sunny day in 1630, a young Englishman named William Pritsaert stands on the riverbank. Smiling contentedly, he gazed across the river. He had had a long journey, fleeing religious persecution in his country. But here, in Gorinchem, he was given another chance.
William was a true craftsman, an artisan who had learned the art of pipe making in England. The English had discovered the spice toebak in America. After William, more pipe makers came from England. They set up their workshops here to mould tobacco pipes from white clay. These were fired by the potters here. ...
You are now standing in Tinnegietersteeg in front of an intriguing picture of a pipe. With underneath in mirror image: 'ceci n'est pas une pipe'. That means: this is not a pipe. Uh, how so? I'll tell you.
On a sunny day in 1630, a young Englishman named William Pritsaert stands on the riverbank. Smiling contentedly, he gazed across the river. He had had a long journey, fleeing religious persecution in his country. But here, in Gorinchem, he was given another chance.
William was a true craftsman, an artisan who had learned the art of pipe making in England. The English had discovered the spice toebak in America. After William, more pipe makers came from England. They set up their workshops here to mould tobacco pipes from white clay. These were fired by the potters here.
The pipes smoked, the craftsmen worked, and the city grew. Not only pipe makers, but also tinnegieters, beer brewers, wine buyers, bag carriers... we have a whole guild district full of them.
Around 1800, snuff became fashionable. This meant the downfall of the pipe industry. The real pipes disappeared from Gorinchem, but this image remained. After the work of the famous surrealist painter Magritte. Ceci n'est pas une pipe: no longer a reality, but an ode to the time-honoured pipe makers and other craftsmen of Gorinchem.