Object data
wood, brass and paint
height 28 cm × width 142.5 cm × depth 18.5 cm
Rijkswerf Vlissingen
Half Model of a Paddle Steamer
Flushing, c. 1837
Inscriptions
- inscription, top centre, on an oval blue label: STOOM- / OORLOGSCHIP / CERBERUS
- inscription, bottom right, on a piece of paper, in ink: Voornaamste Afmetingen. / [followed by measurements and armament]
- label, centre right: 476 former inventory label
- scale, bottom right: brass scale in inches
Conservation
- Restauratieatelier Scheepsmodellen, 2005: restored
Provenance
…; Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1837;1 transferred to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-476
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Polychromed, wooden, fully planked half bracket model of the starboard side of a three-masted paddle steamer, mounted on a rectangular wooden backboard, painted white.
The side of the ship that is painted black is planked and features a paddle box. The paddle box is supported by four brass trusses with gratings fore and aft and three doors in the front and in the rear of the box. Port-lids are fitted in the bulwark fore and aft for the pivot guns. The rounded bow features a detailed beakhead with a red-painted figure representing the three heads of the mythological hellhound Cerberus. The elliptical stern bears the coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Below the stern is a round-headed rudder of the Soetermeer type. The sheer is completely flat and indicated by a red line. One wale is indicated. The hull is round and painted a metallic copper colour below the waterline. The position of three masts and the bowsprit are shown in a truncated form.
The model was sent from Flushing to The Hague in 1837.2 The 3-gun paddle steamer Cerberus, length 45.2 metres, was built by Cornelis Soetermeer (1782-1842) in Flushing from 1834 to 1836.3 The engines were the former engines of Suriname (1827). It was first used as a tugboat in Hellevoetsluis and Flushing, then as convoy for the herring fleet and was finally converted to a coaling hulk in 1857.4
Scale (on model) 1:40.
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 476; A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 44
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Rijkswerf Vlissingen, Half Model of a Paddle Steamer, Flushing, c. 1837', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315789
(accessed 17 December 2025 00:01:45).