Collections § 13

National Reference Collection

Since 1996 a new term was introduced in the Dutch language: Collection of The Netherlands. This stands for the collective (physical) cultural heritage of all Dutch museums and private collections. The main collections of historical importance, those of aesthetic, art-historian value and specialist collections are the main ingredients of the Collection of The Netherlands. The Pijpenkabinet is part of this, since this museum is regarded as the leading institution on the history of tobacco use and pipe manufacturing in Holland.

The Pijpenkabinet collections are important for research in archaeology, history and history of art. All its museum objects are fully registered and documented, the pedigree and source is written down as far as possible, and therefore they act as a reference in identifying objects of unknown nature. Reference collections of different materials are especially needed in archaeological research. They don't need to be located on the same spot. As a whole they can form the National Reference Collection.

As an example the National Money and Bankmuseum (Nationaal Geld en Bankmuseum) in Utrecht acts as the reference collection for coins. For pipes coming from archaeological digs the Pijpenkabinet Museum in Amsterdam is the best address to get information.

Unfortunately not for every kind of material good reference collections exist, but the two museums mentioned above act as a good example of the systematic and scientific approach.

For questions to the curator of the Pijpenkabinet Museum click here to e-mail