Object data
wood, brass, rope and paint
length 42.5 cm × diameter 19 cm
anonymous
Model of a Sounding Lead
United States of America, United States of America, c. 1800 - c. 1858
Inscriptions
- label, on the ball: 887 former inventory label
Provenance
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-887
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
The black-painted model consists of a ball attached to a round bar. The bar is suspended to the plumb line with a double line attached to two arms, which will drop once relieved of the weight of the lead as it hits the sea bed. The arms have hooks, which release the ball weight upon impact. The bar projects from the bottom of the ball to take samples of the sea bed, for which it has a hollow end, and also to secure the ball to the arms by means of ropes with a noose (now missing) around the protruding lower end of the bar.
This model is of a deep sea sounding lead, mainly to be used for scientific purposes, the ball weight (a pierced cannonball) is discarded when it hits the sea bed.
According to Obreen, samples from a depth of up to two miles were taken with Brooke’s sounding lead.1 J.M. Brooke later improved his sounding lead with a more effective release mechanism.
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 887; A. McConnell, Historical Instruments in Oceanography, London 1981, pp. 16-17; A. McConnell, No Sea Too Deep: The History of Oceanographic Instruments, Bristol 1982
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Sounding Lead, United States of America, c. 1800 - c. 1858', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244701
(accessed 15 November 2024 10:16:59).