Object data
wood, brass and paper
telegraph: height 26.5 cm × width 94.6 cm × depth 2.5 cm
code: height 19.9 cm × width 23.1 cm × depth 1.2 cm
anonymous, anonymous
United Kingdom, Netherlands, United Kingdom, 1795 - 1816
wood, brass and paper
telegraph: height 26.5 cm × width 94.6 cm × depth 2.5 cm
code: height 19.9 cm × width 23.1 cm × depth 1.2 cm
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-813
Copyright: Public domain
Model of an optical shutter telegraph with a code table.
The telegraph consists of a rectangular wooden board with seven different sawn-out shapes that are set in one line and can be covered with brass shutters.
The code table, drawn in ink on paper, pasted on to a separate board, shows the combinations of signs for the letters of the alphabet and three punctuation marks: the comma, the colon and the full stop.
According to Obreen this telegraph is a British design.1
Scale unknown.
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 813; G. Wilson, The Old Telegraphs, London 1976, pp. 11-63; E. Ludwig, Beschrijvingen van de telegraafmodellen in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, s.l. 1992, manuscript in RMA, folder NG-MC-810/825 (telegrafen)
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous or anonymous, Model of an Optical Telegraph, 1795 - 1816', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244627
(accessed 29 December 2024 03:31:00).