Object data
wood, brass, bronze, lead, mica, rope and textile
height 103 cm × length 86 cm × width 39 cm
anonymous
Model of a Gaff-Rigged Gunboat
Rotterdam, 1835
Provenance
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-673
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Rigged wooden frame model of a single-masted, flat-bottomed gunboat, mounted on a stand.
The model can be opened in two layers. It has a rounded bow and stern. One gun on a pivot is in the bow with a gun port and trapdoors, two carronades are in the stern with gun ports in the stern and the sides, four pivot guns are mounted in the sides. The deck is detailed with a capstan, a chimney for the galley, hatches, a deck light, a binnacle, loading gear for the guns, a mop and bucket, four oars, a round shot and two anchors. It has a waist cloth on the gunwale and eight long poles for a higher waist cloth. Below deck the model is completely panelled, with a galley and square brass water tanks. The model is fitted with a broad rudder and a brass tiller on deck. The sheer is flat, the model has one wale and leeboards. The model has a single-masted gaff rig with sails. The mast has a topmast, square foresail and topsail, staysail and jib, mainsail with gaff and boom, gaff topsail, tricolour pennant and ensign. The bowsprit is removable.
This model conforms to the specifications for large gaff-rigged gunboats of 1835, measuring 18 metres in length, but does not carry the standard-issue mortar. They had a 36-pounder gun in the bow and two 36-pounder carronades in the stern. The model is very similar to NG-MC-1025.
Scale (according to Obreen)1 1:30.
Literature
P. le Comte, Afbeeldingen van schepen en vaartuigen in verschillende bewegingen, Amsterdam 1831, pl. 4; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 673; R.F. Cairo, ‘Notes on Dutch Gaff Gunboats: A Provisional Report’, Nautical Research Journal 16 (1968), no. 1, pp. 3-16; A.J. Hoving, ‘Van Speyk’s Gaff Gunboat No 2’, Model Shipwright 81 (1992), pp. 56-59; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 182-84
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Gaff-Rigged Gunboat, Rotterdam, 1835', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244488
(accessed 20 September 2024 00:17:23).