Object data
wood, brass, rope and paint
model: height 14.1 cm × width 79.1 cm × depth 16.8 cm
packaging capsule: height 18 cm × width 84.5 cm × depth 24.5 cm
anonymous
Model of a Ship Camel
? Harlingen, c. 1784
Inscriptions
- inscription: draught marks in Roman figures
Conservation
- Ab Hoving, May 1995: missing parts reconstructed
Provenance
...; collection Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1765-1837), Amsterdam, 1807;1 Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1837;2 transferred to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-24
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Construction model of a ship camel, the starboard one of a pair. The planking has been left off, revealing its construction and interior. The hull is shaped as a rectangular box, with one of its sides resembling the impression of a ship’s hull. The model has three levels: the bottom, between decks and the upper deck. The inside is divided into six compartments with bulkheads. Between decks aft are living quarters, with a decorated window and a chimney for a galley. The stern side can be opened with two gates. The model is fully detailed with twenty-three pumps in two rows, twelve cocks for flooding, twenty windlasses with their tackles running to the bottom of the camel through wooden casing, two catheads, riding bitts, a capstan aft, twelve hatches and a rudder.
This model is first mentioned as part of the private collection of Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837) in 1807,3 then still consisting of both camels. A pair of ship camels of this type, named Pylades and Arestes, was built by shipwright Jan L. Sweerus for the Admiralty of Friesland in 1783.4 They were made specifically for Harlingen and, therefore, were smaller than the camels used in Amsterdam. The pair was destroyed by the British during an attack on the Vlaak in 1799.5
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 24; R.M. Haubourdin et al., De physique existentie dezes lands. Jan Blanken, inspecteur-generaal van de waterstaat (1755-1838), exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1987, no. 133 (with wrong inv. no.); G. Boven and A. Hoving, Scheepskamelen & waterschepen. ‘Eene ellendige talmerij, doch lofflijk middel’, Zutphen 2009, pp. 45-46
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Ship Camel, Harlingen, c. 1784', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.242749
(accessed 30 December 2024 22:08:58).