Object data
wood, brass and iron
model: height 79.5 cm × diameter 37.5 cm × height 82 cm
packaging capsule: width 45.5 cm × depth 44 cm
Petrus van der Loo
Model of the Capital of a Lighthouse
? Netherlands, 1834
Conservation
- Ab Hoving, August 2011: cleaned; retouched; waxed
Provenance
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-831
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Model of the upper part of a lighthouse, on a round wooden pedestal.
The capital is made up of 294 pieces. Below, it has sixteen flutings with pointed arches, of which two are opened as windows. The broader section is a round balcony without balustrade and with a door on one side. The interior is detailed with one floor and a spiral staircase. A brass cap on top is secured to the pedestal below by means of a screw and wingnut, holding the entire structure together.
In 1833-34 there were plans to erect a lighthouse on the island of Schouwen in Zeeland.1 It was to be a monument to Lieutenant Jan van Speyk (1802-1831), who died in action on the River Scheldt near Antwerp, blowing up his ship and sacrificing himself before allowing the ship to be captured by the Belgian enemy. For this he was worshipped as a hero. This model shows one of the proposed designs.2 In the end, it was decided to dedicate the existing lighthouse of Egmond aan Zee to Van Speyk’s memory, and on the island of Schouwen another lighthouse was built.
Scale (according to Obreen)3 1:20.
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 831; L. Crommelin and H. van Suchtelen, Nederlandse vuurtorens. Bouw en organisatie, Nieuwkoop 1978, pp. 64-66
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Petrus van der Loo, Model of the Capital of a Lighthouse, Netherlands, 1834', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244645
(accessed 20 September 2024 20:48:26).