200-year-old condom with erotic art goes on display in Amsterdam

A condom, made in around 1830 from a sheep’s appendix, is displayed at a museum in Netherlands and merges art with Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light District.

The Netherlands’ national museum has a new object on display that merges art with Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light District — a nearly 200-year-old condom, emblazoned with erotic art. The Rijksmuseum said in a statement that the playful prophylactic, believed to be made around 1830 from a sheep’s appendix, “depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health”.

The artefact was bought for €1,000 (nearly ₹1 lakh INR) at an auction in Haarlem last November and is now the centrepiece of the ongoing exhibition in the Netherlands. (Photo: Kelly Schenk/Rijksmuseum via AP)

This artefact is part of an exhibition titled Safe Sex? that showcases 19th century sex work. The condom, possibly a souvenir from a brothel, is decorated with an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen.

The condom is on display at The Netherlands’ national museum until the end of November.

The phrase ‘This is my choice’ is written along the sheath in French. According to the museum, it is a reference to the Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting The Judgment of Paris, which depicts the Trojan prince Paris judging a beauty contest between three goddesses.

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