The picture depicts an unrealistic situation. An average mill stone was in reality so big and also so heavy that it was impossible for one man to lift it. It must therefore be meant figuratively.
The question is whether the patron who had this IN DEN MEVLEN STEEN (=in the mill stone) placed thought that he had such a hard life or was particularly pleased with himself, given the further caption: T IS A STRONG MAN WHO CAN LIFT HIM. The man on the gable stone is doing it very easily despite the 'misprint' in STREKEN.
The name "In the mill stone" goes back at least to the middle of the seventeenth century. In 1664 the gunsmith Tilman van Gellick leased the house with store to the saddler Matthijs Jaspars.
The year 17 29 can be found at Markt 12 on two stones on the sides of the facade. This year corresponds to the fact that on 3 October 1729 the city drew the building line of the house because of the new bluestone facade.
The layout of the facades clearly shows that Markt 11 and 12 were not created simultaneously. No. 12 was earlier and received the year stone 1726. There is no other house name stone, which, given the size and central location of the year stone, probably would not have been there either.
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