Gaper
Encyclopedia
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
, on the front of a building in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It was used to indicate that this building is a pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
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The literal translation of gaper would be yawner; the figure is always displayed with an open mouth, and sometimes you can see a pill he has taken resting on his tongue. In fact he wasn't yawning, but opening his mouth to take medicine.
The existing "gapers" in Amsterdam are almost all of Moorish appearance but this wasn't supposed to be the forefather of today's pharmacist but rather to indicate the exotic origin of the medicines. The apothecary would attend market days all over the country and his assistant would play the character of an ill man. After taking the pill, the assistant (often dressed as a Moor) would all of a sudden feel much better and perform a dance.
Later, when pharmacists opened shops instead of travelling through the country, the symbol of the Moorish man (often depicted with a pill on his tongue) would tell the illiterate audience that this was the home of a pharmacist.
Nowadays these symbols are rare, outside museum collections, fewer than 50 can be seen on buildings, some have now lent their names to cafes such as de vergulde Gaper in Amsterdam.