MAS MUSEUM IN ANTWERP

Last weekend we were in Antwerp where we met some Dutch friends, we had planned to walk arround and visit all the nice places in Antwerp but alas, the weather was cool and it rained constantly so it was a perfect day to visit a museum. As many of the museums in Antwerp are being restored or worked on we decided to go to the MAS museum (means museum on the border of a stream) as you all know Antwerp is a world harbor at the border of the river Scheldt. Part of this museum is filled with permanent exhibitions and part of it is filled with temporary exhibitions, it is huge so we couldn’t see all the exhibitions. The permanent exhibitions are about ships and what they brought back to Antwerp from far away countries.

A VERY OLD MODEL OF A SHIP

THIS LADY WAS ONCE THE FRONT OF A LARGE SAILING  SHIP

AND SO WAS THIS GENT

ALL SORTS OF KNOTS THEY USED FOR BOATS AND SHIPS, YOU COULD LEARN HOW TO MAKE THEM THERE AT THE MUSEUM AND KIDS LOVED IT

THIS BOAT LAY AT THE BACK OF THE MUSEUM AS THE MUSEUM IS ALMOST SURROUNDED BY A SMALL CITY PORT

HERE YOU CAN SEE ANOTHER PART OF THAT SMALL HAVEN, MAINLY USED BY PLEASURE BOATS, AND YOU CAN SEE IT WAS A GREY AND WET DAY

ONE OF THE EXHIBITIONS WAS ABOUT WAR SHIPS IN VIETNAM

THIS TAG BELONGS TO THE SHIP ABOVE

A VERY OLD DUTCH PAINTING

THIS PAINTING IS MADE OF OLD DUTCH TILES FROM DELFT (HOLLAND), THE DELFT TILES ARE ALWAYS IN WHITE AND BLUE AS IS ALL PORCELAIN MADE IN DELFT, SUCH AS COFFEE CUPS AND POTS, TEA CUPS AND POTS, TIMBLES, STATUES……..

THESE HELMETS WERE WORN BY SAILORMEN WHEN THEY HAD TO DEFEND THEIR SHIP

AND THESE WERE THEIR WEAPONS, ALL MADE OF IRON AND VERY VERY HEAVY

JAPANESE DOLL’S

ISN’T SHE PRETTY ????

JAPANESE HORSE

 

OLD AFRICAN ART

A SMALL AFRICAN STATUE MADE OF IVORY, YOU CAN SEE A MIRROR IN THE BACK SO YOU CAN SEE IT IS DECORATED  ON ALL SIDES

DOESN’T HE LOOK SCARY !!!

A VERY OLD BIKE, CAN YOU IMAGINE PEOPLE RODE ON IT !!!!, BEHIND IS A PAINTING OF ANTWERP AND THE BIG HARBOR

AN OLD AMERICAN CAR, IT WAS HUGE

I hope I can show you pictures of the city of Antwerp some day, it is an interesting and very old metropolitan city, with lots of very old buildings and numerous restaurants and bars where you can eat and drink well, in Summer many restaurants serve mussels with French fries (who are actually Belgian fries but that is another story…) a delicatessen !!

 

I hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves !