Object data
iron, gilt brass, copper, wood, rope and shark skin
whole: length 75 cm
hilt: length 14.6 cm
anonymous
Sword of Honour
Netherlands, 1850 - before 1900
Inscriptions
- inscription, on the hilt: ACTIE VAN / DOGGERS / BANK / 5 AUGTS 1781
Provenance
...; presented to Captain Guillaume van Harecarspel Dekker (1743-1783);1 ...; donated by Willem Frederik van Erp Taalman Kip (1824-1905) to the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1881;2 transferred to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-1422
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Dogger Bank sword of honour, the sheath is missing.
Slightly curved regular sabre blade with false edge but no heel. The sword has an open half basket hilt with a large anchor, a backboard with inscription and lion’s head pommel, and a sharkskin grip bound with copper wire.
Seventeen Dogger Bank swords of honour were awarded by Stadholder William V (1748-1806) to the commanders of the Dutch squadron that engaged the British fleet off Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781. Eight of these swords of honour have been identified today. This sword is probably the one presented to Captain Guillaume van Harecarspel Dekker (1743-1783), who commanded the 36-gun frigate Bellona.3 It was presented to the Navy Model Room by Secretary of the Navy Willem Frederik van Erp Taalman Kip (1824-1905) in 1881.
Literature
J.C.J. de Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche zeewezen, 5 vols. and index, Haarlem 1858-62, vol. 4, pp. 516, 534, 551-54; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1422; J.C. Mollema, Geschiedenis van Nederland ter zee, 4 vols., Amsterdam 1939-42, vol. 3, eererol p. 18; De Fiere Waterleeuw 1780-1784, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Maritiem Museum ‘Prins Hendrik’) 1969, no. 222; J.P. Puype, Blanke wapens. Nederlandse slag- en steekwapens sinds 1600 … , Lochem/Popperinge 1981, pp. 26, 60; F. Grijzenhout and N.C.F. van Sas, Voor vaderland en vrijheid. Revolutie in Nederland 1780-1787, exh. cat. Utrecht (Centraal Museum) 1987, no. 56
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Sword of Honour, Netherlands, 1850 - before 1900', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.245226
(accessed 28 December 2024 04:42:13).