Nutcracker Museum acquires rare Roman artifact

By Rachel Schleif
Staff writer
May 2006

The Nutcracker Museum added a 2000-year Roman nutcracker to its collection last week. There are only three known nutcrackers like it in the world. It’s a find that most metropolitan museums would kill for, said Rik Gijsen, an antique dealer from Holland.

“It’s very rare, this is something very exceptional for this region,” Gijsen said as he carefully placed it in the Nutcracker Museum’s display case. He traveled from his native land to personally deliver the nutcracker to the museum owners, Arlene and George Wagner.

He tried to describe the experience of handling an artifact so old. He said in a quiet, shaken-breath voice, “Oh it’s very exciting. I cannot tell you with words.”

The nutcracker was made of bronze sometime between the first and second centuries, or 1,500 years before Columbus arrived in North America. Archeologists excavated the green ornate nutcracker in the mid-1960s from the ruins of a Roman villa between Naples and Rome Gijsen said.

The artifact is about two inches longer than a hand span and weighs slightly more than a full-sized metal stapler. The Romans constructed heavier nutcrackers to break open the dry wild nuts of the Mediterranean, Gijsen said.

Gijsen heard of the possibility that a Roman nutcracker might go on the market about six months ago from an antique dealer in Switzerland.

“After four months of searching, I began to have the idea maybe it didn’t exist at all,” Gijsen said.

A few months later, Gijsen took a call from England from a collector of Roman artifacts who offered him the piece.

“I knew I had to decide right away,” Gijsen said. “I had been on the trail of that one for half a year. The hunt gives me a thrill. I don’t expect to find another nutcracker better than that one.”

Mrs. Wagner has known Gijsen for years. He specializes in antique nutcrackers, knows more about them than anyone else in the world, she said.

“I’m a nutcracker addict,” Gijsen laughed.

Two weeks ago Gijsen broke the news to her that he obtained the piece. Mrs. Wagner said that she became weak in the knees when she heard about Gijsen’s remarkable find.

“Did I squeal?” Mrs. Wagner asked Gijsen.

“Yeah, kind of,” Gijsen replied.

The new arrival will remain on display at the Nutcracker Museum every day from 2 to 5 p.m. until October. Admission is $2.50 for adults, $1 for students and free for those 5 and under.