Stone tablets originally identified houses in much the way numbers do today. They showed an occupant's occupation, religious conviction, name or place of origin. On the right is a replica of the tablet at Gevelsteen Dam 2-2A, on the Damrak in Amsterdam. This tablet has been on Dam Square since the 1600s. The house became an inn in 1899, called The Bishop. A new house replaced the inn in 1934 and the Sinter Claes tablet was reinserted up on the first floor level. The building is now a branch bank, ABN - AMRO. A wreath is placed in front of the tablet each year when Sinterklaas enters Amsterdam.

Click for tablet in situ, tablet has since been painted with white vestments