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42:) 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. They are also called "stone tablets" by the
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They normally combine a picture with an inscription, or sometimes just a date. Some illustrate the name or profession of the owner, for instance a quill pen as a badge for an author, or a ship for a sailor. Some are named after notable people
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A variation on the theme is a tablet bearing a biblical quotation or more worldly motto, but without an image. (Mediaeval builders also often carved mottos in wooden beams or painted them on plaster panels.) An interesting example is the
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The tradition is alive and has moved with the times – new stones are still commissioned, and for instance the
Rabobank at Frederiksplein 54 in Amsterdam wistfully commemorates the introduction of the
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Gable stones came into use in the 16th century, in the days before house numbers, taking over from hanging signs as a way of simultaneously and memorably identifying and adorning a house.
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164:(Never Perfect), a testimony to the householder's belief that only God can achieve perfection. Going beyond practicality or superstition, some stones make a joke, usually a
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In
Amsterdam, many gable stones have been conserved by the Vereniging Vrienden van Amsterdamse Gevelstenen (VVAG) or Friends of Amsterdam Gable Stones.
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Gable stone of the derelict 16th-century "Old
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The content of gable stones may explain something about the house's owner and are a feature of the urban fabric of
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movement who helped conserve the house on which the stone is mounted.
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393:"VRIENDENVERENIGING WAS INITIATIEF VAN ABN'er BATENBURG"
53:. Some 2,500 of these stones can still be found in the
244:Gable stone commemorating Frederick V of Bohemia,
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284:Batenburg gevelsteen, Prinsengracht, Amsterdam
272:Dutch gable stone in Ă–sterlĂĄnggatan, Stockholm
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223:[When things go well one has many friends
226:If your luck changes who can find them?]
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214:Gaet het wel men heeft veel vrinden
152:) or faraway trading destinations (
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439:Architecture in the Netherlands
219:kert het luck wie kan se vinden
122:De eerste en de laatste gulden
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16:Carved architectural features
372:"Stone Tablets in Amsterdam"
342:"Stone Tablets in Amsterdam"
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429:Ornaments (architecture)
340:Lendering, Jona (2006).
124:(The first and the last
434:Architectural elements
397:Stadsherstel Amsterdam
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182:historic preservation
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352:on 20 October 2015
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246:Egelantiersgracht
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27:(Netherlands)
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424:Stonemasonry
401:. Retrieved
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200:old town of
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32:Gable stones
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377:18 December
356:18 December
346:livius.org/
208:. It reads:
55:Netherlands
44:Rijksmuseum
40:gevelstenen
418:Categories
403:2023-05-29
399:(in Dutch)
327:References
166:visual pun
154:Königsberg
87:Copenhagen
59:Maastricht
321:Datestone
311:Pub signs
306:Plaquette
202:Stockholm
198:Hanseatic
158:talismans
132:sculptor
99:Stockholm
91:Bucharest
51:Amsterdam
25:Amsterdam
290:See also
143:Features
63:Brussels
231:Gallery
196:in the
130:Zutphen
126:guilder
109:History
206:Sweden
103:Warsaw
95:ZĂĽrich
83:Munich
79:Bergen
301:Gaper
296:Gable
190:Dutch
174:baten
71:Lille
67:Liège
36:Dutch
379:2015
358:2015
178:burg
118:euro
101:and
75:Oslo
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