A rare 19th-century condom decorated with an erotic etching featuring a nun and three clergymen went on display for the first time at a museum this week.

According to Joyce Zelen the curator of prints at the museum in the Netherlands, the condom Measuring under eight inches, is in “mint condition”. UV testing revealed it hasn’t been used.

A report by Archeology News says -Thought to be a “luxury souvenir” from a high-end Parisian brothel, this condom is one of just two such examples of its kind to survive into the modern era. Before vulcanized rubber was discovered in 1839, condoms were made out of materials like linen, animal membranes, or turtle shells. While they offered little in the way of protection, these kinds of objects were both practical and symbolic, conveying desires, fears, and social taboos of the time.”

The object was acquired at auction in Haarlem in late 2024 for €1,000 ( equivalent to KSh 147,893) with the support of the F.G. Waller Fonds. It now takes center stage in the museum’s Print Room exhibition, which highlights 19th-century sex, prostitution, and sexual health through a collection of Dutch and French prints, drawings, and photographs.

The Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands’ national museum, houses over one million works of art, among them some of the most renowned paintings by Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Hals. Over 750,000 prints, drawings, and photos are stored in its Print Room alone. It is the first time a print has been bought by the museum on a condom.

The condom is now part of the museum’s new exhibit titled ‘Safe Sex?’, which explores 19th-century prostitution, desire, and disease. And this artefact sits at the centre of it.

The condom will remain on display in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum’s Print Room until November 25, 2025.