Christaan Huygens on a shop front in Amsterdam
This post was written by by Stefanie van den Steen
In 1892, the Dutchman Pieter Laméris (1868–1958), a native of Oude Pekela in the province of Groningen, opened a clock and watches shop in Amsterdam at the address Leidsestraat 81. A few years later, he moved to number 86, which also served as his residence. In 1903, he had the shopfronts at numbers 86 and 88 merged into a single modern shopfront with a bluestone façade and a wide display window, behind which he could display his wares. Contemporary photos show the shopfront and the interior.
Laméris commissioned a remarkable tile panel as an advertisement for his business: an image of Christiaan Huygens, the inventor of the pendulum clock. It was manufactured by the Utrecht-based faience and tile factory ‘Holland’, whose goods were also available in the shop.
In 1923, the business moved away and the premises were used by other shops. In 1953 the mural was covered up, and it remained out of the public eye until 1991 when it was uncovered again. Some tiles had gone missing, others were in danger of coming loose.
In 2020, the Dutch Tile Museum in Otterlo announced that it was imperative to undertake restoration, and the heritage association ‘Heemschut’ also urged action. With financial support of the City of Amsterdam and of Heemschut, the missing and damaged tiles were recreated by Michiel Overhoff and installed by the firm Van Sabben Oud-Nederlandsche Tegelwerken in Oud-Beijerland. Since 2023, passers by can enjoy the fine panel again, although it is no longer related to the goods sold in the shop beneath it.
