Object data
wood and brass
total: height 138.5 cm × width 43 cm × depth 32.5 cm
radius of main arm: length 24 cm
radius of wings: length 19 cm
height 150.5 cm × width 52.5 cm × depth 36.5 cm
anonymous
Model of an Optical Telegraph
France, France, c. 1800 - c. 1807
Inscriptions
- label, at the base of the pole: 811 former inventory label
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-811
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Model of an optical telegraph, mounted on a square base.
The model consists of double-shored poles with an operating mechanism at the base and moving arms at the top. The main arm turns on an axle between the poles and has two wings attached to the ends, which can turn separately from one another. The operating mechanism mimics the movement of the arms and the movement is transferred by means of chains on the axles of the moving parts.
The model is first mentioned as part of the private collection of Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837) in 1807.3 Claude Chappe’s (1763-1805) telegraphs were used in France from 1792 until the introduction of the electric telegraph in 1844. Between 1810 and 1813 there was a line between Paris and Amsterdam.
This model is a so-called ‘Milan configuration’ type; the operating mechanism and transfer of movement incorporates improvements of Chappe’s design, as suggested by Abraham-Louis Bréguet (1747-1823).
Scale unknown.
Literature
M.A. Chappe Sr, Histoire de la télégraphie, Au Mans 1840; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 811; C.F. Gijsberti Hodenpijl, ‘De aanlegging van den optischen telegraaf in ons land’, De navorscher 68 (1919), pp. 266-71; E.A.B.J. ten Brink and C.W.L. Schell, Geschiedenis van de Rijkstelegraaf 1852-1952, The Hague 1954; E.A.B.J. ten Brink, ‘De optische telegraaf van Claude Chappe en zijn toepassing in Nederland tijdens de inlijving’, Publicaties van het Genootschap voor Napoleontische Studiën 10 (1957), pp. 337-59; G. Hogesteeger, ‘Kijken in lijnen. Enige aantekeningen met betrekking tot de optische telegraaf in Nederland’, Studieblad PTT Telecom, Mei 1989, pp. 128-38; G. de Saint Denis, ‘Télégraphes et sémaphores en Europe du nord-ouest fin XVIIIe-début XIXème siècle’, in Bicentenaire du télégraphe Chappe. Colloque international des 13-14-15 Octobre 1993 (Fédération Nationale des Associations de personnel des Postes et Télécommunications pour la Recherche Historique) 1993, pp. 181-91
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of an Optical Telegraph, France, c. 1800 - c. 1807', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244625
(accessed 6 January 2025 08:52:16).