Unveiled: 200-Year-Old Erotic Condom Crafted from Sheep Appendix Sparks Museum Buzz in the Netherlands
The museum refers to the condom as a “luxury souvenir,” noting that they “looked at it with UV light and suspect it was never actually used.” More than anything else, the object was both symbolic and an effective method of advertising — it measures just under eight inches in length, likely flattering to the man who originally purchased it.
“It’s also unclear whether the nun in the etching is pointing at the bald man, the thin man, or the one who looks slightly overweight,” Zelen said. “That way, any type of man could feel spoken to.”
How The Condom Fits Into The Rijksmuseum’s Collection
Kelly Schenk/RijksmuseumThe condom will be on display until November 2025.
In November 2024, the Rijksmuseum purchased the condom at an auction in Haarlem for around $1,142 with the support of the F.G. Waller Fund. It is the first example in the museum’s collection of a print on a condom.
“[The condom] represents both the lighter and darker sides of sexual health, in an era when the quest for sexual pleasure was fraught with fears of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases — especially syphilis,” the museum said in a press release.
The illustrated condom now joins a collection of more than 750,000 prints at the Rijksmuseum, the Netherland’s national museum. The Safe Sex? exhibition is currently open and is set to run until the end of November 2025.
After reading about this 19th-century condom, take a look inside the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, one of the strangest museums on Earth. Then, read all about the history of condoms.
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