The House with the Huge Noses, Amsterdam
The canal-side building at Oudezijds Voorburgwal 232 in Amsterdam was built in 1626 as commissioned by Pieter Parys.
The coat of arms topping the gable depicts the alliance between the builder, the trader Jan-Frederik Mamouchette and his wife Catherina van Heusden.
Some view the remarkably large noses as a charicature, perhaps in reference to a play on words — Ma Mouchette roughly meaning ‘my trunk.’
Others see it as a reference to the Saracen due to trade relations that existed between this house and merchants in Palestine.
In other words, no one is sure what the noses are in reference to.
The building was restored between 1993 and 1997.
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