AMSTERDAM.- On Tuesday 16 April at 4pm, Sotheby’s Amsterdam will offer a museum collection of specialised measures and weights. The instruments are part of the collection of the Museum of Weights and Measures in Delft, Netherlands, that recently closed its doors. The museum collection origins from the early 19th century. During the so-called “Batavian Republic” in Holland and the reign of king Louis Napoleon (Napoleon’s brother), the first initiatives were deployed for the introduction of the Metric System. The Netherlands were the first nation to introduce the metric system in 1820. France was to follow in 1840, 20 years later. The collection reflects the struggle of the authorities in the nomenclature of the various weights and measures, and also in the careful measuring the statutory weights, dry and liquid, measures and measures for lengths. The disposal of objects from a museum collection is a scrupulous procedure in the Netherlands, that is why the sale is co-ordinated by the ICN (Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage). The collection consists of highly remarkable and very precisely manufactured instruments that were used for the verification and calibration of weights and measures. There are various Dutch standard weights, dry and liquid measures, measures for lengths and measuring instruments, stamped with the mark representing a climbing lion. The greater part of the collection dates from the 19th and early 20th century and is in excellent condition.