A R C H I V E

Item 1833 of 2719

Vintage Droste cocoa tin with nurse, 1kg

SKU: 849

Vintage Droste cocoa tin. 

Nurse against red background on both sides with the so-called "Droste effect". Nurse is shown in a black and white uniform. She carries a tray with cup cocoa and tin, where the same scene is depicted in endless repetition. Left: The royal weapon against a light blue background. Text: Droste Cacao N.V. Droste cacao & chocoladefabrieken. Haarlem Holland. Right side: medals, national weapon under canopy, text: hamburg 1898. 's Hague 1898 - Brussels 1904. Antwerp 1904. Grand Prix. 

Hinged lid with long hinge pin. Tin is in a vintage condition with traces of use. 

Manufacturing 1950 to 1970. 

  • Height: 19.7 cm. 
  • Length: 11 cm. 
  • Width: 11 cm. 

Droste B.V. is a Dutch chocolate manufacturer. Its headquarters and factory are located in the village of Vaassen, Netherlands. Droste operates as an independent business unit within Hosta, a German confectionery company.

Droste was founded by Gerardus Johannes Droste in 1863 in the city of Haarlem. The company started as a confectionery business selling various types of candy, including the Droste chocolate pastilles that are still being sold today. Because of the growing reputation, the firm G.J. Droste opened its first factory in 1890. The entire chocolate making process took place in the same building as where the retail store was located. In 1891, the factory was relocated to the Spaarne river due to lack of room in the old building. This new location was favourable because the raw materials could now be delivered by boat. Likewise, the shipping of finished products was done on water, improving the distribution process.

In 1897, the leadership of the Droste factory was handed over to the sons of Gerardus J. Droste. In the meantime, Droste's assortment had grown to numerous cocoa and chocolate products, the famous Dutch chocolate letters included. The company had also been winning a significant market share in both the Netherlands and foreign countries, in spite of the competition from larger chocolate manufacturers. In 1898 Droste officially acquired the right to bear the coat of arms of queen dowager Emma. After the turn of the century the company had been exporting its products to Belgium, Germany and France, and in 1905 it entered the American market. 

The nurse. 
The famous illustration of the woman in nurse clothes, holding a plate with a cup of milk and a Droste cocoa package, first appeared on Droste products around the year 1900. It is believed that this illustration was created by Jan (Johannes) Musset, being inspired by a pastel known as La Belle Chocolatière ("The Pretty Chocolate Girl"). The image would proclaim the wholesome effect of chocolate milk and became inseparable from the Droste brand. The illustration reappears on the cocoa package held by the nurse, inducing a recursive visual effect known today as the Droste effect. The effect was named after Droste for this illustration. 

The Droste effect —known as mise en abyme in art— is the effect of a picture appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. The appearance is recursive: the smaller version contains an even smaller version of the picture, and so on. Only in theory could this go on forever; practically, it continues only as long as the resolution of the picture allows, which is relatively short, since each iteration geometrically reduces the picture's size. It is a visual example of a strange loop, a self-referential system of instancing which is the cornerstone of fractal geometry. 

© 2015 - 2024 Retro & Design - 2nd hand collectibles - Webshop for Retro-Vintage home accessories | sitemap | rss | ecommerce software - powered by MyOnlineStore