Exhibition: ‘Passion + Craftsmanship = Mastery’

• van 28 March 2025 t/m 28 March 2025
• Monday 12:00 – 17:00
• Saturday 12:00 – 17:00
• Sunday 12:00 – 17:00

Masterpieces by the talented bottle ship builder Frans Dekker. Over the past 40 years, he has created a unique collection of bottle ships, characterized by their high level of quality, eye for detail and perfect finish. He does not just bottle any ship, only when he is fascinated by the story of a ship, does he get to work.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is the diorama of part of the 17th century slipways, the remains of which were found next to the Zaantheater in Zaandam. The diorama shows the construction of 2 so-called Pinassen, a type of ship that Willem Barentsz may have used during his wintering on Nova Zembla.

Fascinated by the archaeological research, Dekker has recreated the situation in detail. The exhibition shows the most diverse types of ships. The cow boat stands out. A polder barge like the ones you saw sailing in West Friesland with cows on them until about 1960. The ice sailer that the builder himself was allowed to take a trip on the frozen Gouwzee. A tow barge that used to sail between Edam and Volendam. By adding people, Dekker makes it a lively scene.

Also special are the bottles with dioramas of a South American harbour and that of a Surinamese quay, in which he has incorporated many details. Frans Dekker started his working life as a ship’s carpenter and that is reflected in the finishing of his ships and bottles. He makes every detail himself, with great patience and precision. He also gives each yoke, on which the bottle rests, something special. Dekker shows that you do not only have to think of a bottle ship as a sailboat in a bottle…..