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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ex Libris, post: 2336719, member: 14916&quot;]In 2015 I was invited to metal detect two gardens in the Dutch town of Nuenen. Normally not very exiting, but these gardens were in the 1880&#039;s part of the rectory of the nearby church. Parish clerk Johannes Schafrat rented rooms in the rectory. From may 1884 to november 1885 Vincent van Gogh hired one of his rooms where he lived and had his atelier.</p><p><br /></p><p>The old rectory was demolished in the 1930&#039;s en new housing was placed on the ground. When we had the chance to metal detect there both gardens were just emptied.</p><p><br /></p><p>Old and new situation</p><p>[ATTACH=full]260373[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]260374[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>During my metal detecting session I found a lot of junk as you would expect in a garden. I also found 4 coins, a Chinese coin (a very strange find there...) from the 1700&#039;s, a Dutch provincial &quot;duit&quot; from the 1700&#039;s and 2 20th century coins.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]260375[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>One find was at first a mystery to me. It was made of copper and had a text on it:</p><p><br /></p><p>BREVET 1883 LEMPEREUR BERNARD</p><p>[ATTACH=full]260376[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]260377[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I tried to find out what this could be and it turned up as a part of an oil lamp. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]260378[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]260379[/ATTACH] </p><p>Vincent van Gogh lived in Nuenen from 1883 to 1885. The first year he stayed at his parents, where his father was a protestant vicar (Nuenen was mainly Catholic in that time). The most famous painting he made in Nuenen was &quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Potato_Eaters" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Potato_Eaters" rel="nofollow">The Potato Eaters</a>&quot;. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Potato Eaters (1885) by Vincent van Gogh</p><p>[ATTACH=full]260380[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In this painting you see an oil lamp. If we compare this lamp to a similar one of LEMPEREUR BERNARD there are remarkable similarities:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]260382[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>So I know &quot; The Potato Eaters&quot; was painted at that spot an I found a part of an oil lamp that is very similar to a lamp on the painting. That makes me dream I have discovered a piece of history. I know I can never prove this is really the actual oil lamp that was painted by van Gogh, but at least it makes a great story!</p><p><br /></p><p>So what do you think? Could this find the real lamp in the Potato Eaters?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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