Rijksmuseum

Object data

paper, gilt silver, wood, copper, velvet and silk

certificate: height 72.9 cm × width 40.8 cm
container: length 44 cm × diameter 8.4 cm
outer case: length 46.8 cm × diameter 11.5 cm

Inscriptions

inscription, on the certificate: MEDUSA
inscription, on the case: P MERYER te 's HAGE

Provenance

...; presented by King Willem III der Nederlanden (1817-1890) to Zr.Ms. Medusa, 1865;¹ transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1889

Object number: NG-MC-1889-17

Copyright: Public domain

Entry

Illuminated document in which King William III expresses his satisfaction concerning the actions of the Medusa in Japan in 1863 and 1864, specifying the ceremony with which flag and certificate should be handed over to the ship by the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, and ending with a complete list of the ship’s crew. The gilt silver container is decorated with two crowned insignia of the ‘Militaire Willems Orde’ and the coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the top of the lid. The whole is kept in a wooden case lined with red velvet and silk.

This certificate was presented together with a flag (NG-MC-1889-85-2) to the 10-gun sloop of war Medusa (Amsterdam 1852-54, 51.5 metres long, decommissioned 1866) by King William III of the Netherlands in appreciation of its role in freeing the passage of the Strait of Shimonoseki in Japan in 1864. Taking part in an international expedition this ship helped to break the opposition of the Prince of Nagato.

Literature

H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, p. 57; A.A. Lemmers and G. Boven, Nederland en Japan. Bijzondere betrekkingen 1600-1868, Den Helder 2000, pp. 22, 26-28; J. de Hond and M. Fitski, A Narrow Bridge: Japan and the Netherlands from 1600, Amsterdam 2016 (also published in Dutch as De smalle brug. Japan en Nederland sinds 1600), pp. 144-63

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Willem III (koning der Nederlanden), Certificate in Case, The Hague, 1865', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.245253

(accessed 20 September 2024 11:31:21).