Jan Menze van Diepen.

Jan Menze van Diepen was born in 1905 in the city of Groningen, in a family of shipbuilders.

From an early age he had a love for art and history. In a period of over 50 years he collected a vast and varied collection.

From his parents he inherited his love of Asian ceramics. Building on their collection, he managed to put together a superb collection.

During the second world war he started another important part of the collection: prints and ceramics concerning the House of Orange-Nassau.

Van Diepen collected not only for himself. He tried as much as possible to let others enjoy.

Jan Menze van Diepen died in Haren, on February 26 1994.