In association with
Omrop Friesland
NOS News•today, 6:52 PM
Five centuries-old silver handballs have fetched a total of 27,000 euros at an auction in Friesland. The oldest ball from 1756 was auctioned for 11,000 euros, which goes to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. According to the auction house, this makes it the most expensive ball sold at auction.
The balls were owned by an anonymous family and were auctioned by auction house Ald Fryslân. When it became known that the balls were going under the hammer, several experts already hoped that they would end up in a museum.
That now appears to have been successful. Not only the Rijksmuseum has acquired a handball, the other four balls are also going to a museum: the Handball Museum in Franeker.
They were sold for 5000, 4000, 3600 and 3400 euros respectively. Three of them were purchased by the Kaatsmuseum itself. A fourth ball went to a private individual, who donated the ball to the museum.
The handballs were once used as a prize for the winner of Frisian handball competitions:
Rijksmuseum buys fifth silver handball: “I hope Friesland is proud”
The Rijksmuseum bought the handball for various reasons, curator Jan de Hond told Omrop Fryslân. “One of the reasons is that the Rijksmuseum likes to tell stories about the whole of the Netherlands. Not only about the Randstad, but also about other regions.”
For Friesland, such a ball is a symbolic object, he thinks. “Handball is the Frisian national sport. That is very nice for us to have Friesland represented in the collection.”
A second reason is that the museum wants to pay attention to sports and relaxation. “You may not immediately expect that in the Rijksmuseum, but it is something very important for the past two or three centuries,” says De Hond. “This is a very early example of organized sports, those handball competitions with an official silver handball as a prize.”
The Rijksmuseum paid almost 15,000 euros for the handball, including the auction costs. But it’s worth it, says De Hond. “It is a very attractive object. If you look closely you can also see the stitching in the silver that imitates a real bouncing ball. There is also a scene in which you see the bouncing depicted,” he explains. “This tells a unique story.”
He understands that people may find it a shame that one handball now ends up outside the province. “But I hope that Friesland is also very proud that their story will soon be on display in Amsterdam, in the Rijksmuseum.”
The intention is for the ball to appear in the museum’s permanent exhibition. “We have to see how we want to exhibit it and whether we do that soon or only in the next two or three years,” says De Hond.
“But we could also do a temporary loan or presentation with the Kaats Museum. We still have to explore those options.” The Kaats Museum has already indicated that it is interested in this.
