This little piece of rubbery history isn’t just old — it’s naughty, historically rich, and now sitting proudly in a glass box for all of Amsterdam to admire.
Yes, you read that right. As Het Parool reports, the Rijksmuseum added a rare condom adorned with an erotic print to its collection earlier this month.
Not your average museum acquisition
It all started at an auction house in Haarlem, where curators Joyce Zelen and Huigen Leeflang from the Rijksprentenkabinet were browsing thousands of antique prints.
Zelen tells Het Parool that the listing was easy to overlook. But Leeflang, with his trained eye and Zelen, with her PhD in libertine art, spotted something truly unusual.
“We had to ask the boss if we could bid on a condom,” Zelen confessed.
(Just imagine getting THAT message on Teams. 😅)
The condom, believed to date back to around 1830, was auctioned off for just €1,000. “A bargain,” Zelen said, noting that similar pieces have sold for much more in recent years.
Not your standard contraceptive packaging
This bizarrely brilliant artifact features a copperplate etching printed on dried animal membrane
Zelen suspects it could come from a sheep, goat, horse, or crow, but without visible clues, the museum is planning DNA research to find out. 🕵️♀️
And the print? It’s anything but subtle. A nun sits with her legs spread before three very excited clergymen, framed by the caption “Voilà, mon choix” (“This is my choice”).
@rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum acquired a rare and risqué 19th century condom to its collection. Likely made from a sheep’s appendix and adorned with an erotic print of a nun choosing between three aroused clergymen. Yes, really… 🖼️ Anonymous, Condom with print, c. 1830. Acquired through the F.G. Waller Fonds #rijksmuseum #amsterdammuseum #arttok ♬ original sound – Rijksmuseum
The image is both a satire of religious celibacy and a cheeky nod to the Judgement of Paris — the Greek myth in which a mortal must choose the fairest goddess.
The Rijksmuseum believes it was never actually used as a condom, but rather sold as a luxurious brothel souvenir. Less functional, more flirtatious.
A museum display like no other
Now proudly on display in the Rijksmuseum’s nineteenth-century department, this once-forgotten object sits in a glass case alongside prints and illustrations that explore sexuality, brothel culture, medicine, and the fear of disease.
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The exhibition uses this curious item to reflect on how the 1800s approached sex and shame, often through euphemisms, moral judgment, and a looming fear of syphilis.
Zelen points out that there is still surprisingly little known about sexual culture in the nineteenth century, as many objects were mislabelled or quietly archived.
A small object, yes, but one that opens the door to a world we’re only just beginning to understand.
So, what do you think? Will you be heading to the Rijksmuseum to see this scandalous little slice of history?
