Signalling Gun

anonymous, 1750 - 1806

Vuursteengeweer voor het doen van seinen. Het heeft geen loop: de lade is voorzien van een gleuf voor kruit die uitkomt in een pan aan het eind, waarin een pyrotechnisch vuur ontstoken moet worden. De gleuf en lade worden afgedekt met een houten deksel, die gelicht kan worden draaiend om een bout bij het slot. Lade en deksel zijn met elegant snijwerk van bladerwerk versierd.

  • Artwork typeflintlock gun, signalling gun
  • Object numberNG-MC-1028
  • Dimensionslength 87 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, iron and brass

anonymous

Signalling Gun

? France, 1750 - 1806

Provenance

…; collection Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1765-1837), Amsterdam, 1807;1HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. L no. 7. Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1837;2After the death of Asmus in 1837 models from his private collection remained in the Navy Model Room in The Hague and were henceforth considered an integral part of the collection of the Department of the Navy. transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-1028

Entry

Flintlock gun for signalling.

The gun has no barrel, instead, the stock has a groove for powder with a pan at the end, in which a pyrotechnic mixture is placed to produce a flare. From lock to signalling pan, the stock is covered with a wooden cover, which can be raised, pivoting on a bolt near the lock. Stock and cover are decorated with elegant carvings of leaves.

Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837) mentions a signalling gun in his private collection in 1807,3HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. L no. 7. which may be this one. He collected it during his travels through France in 1797.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1028

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Signalling Gun, France, 1750 - 1806', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20054069

(accessed 11 December 2025 14:20:26).

Footnotes

  • 1HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. L no. 7.
  • 2After the death of Asmus in 1837 models from his private collection remained in the Navy Model Room in The Hague and were henceforth considered an integral part of the collection of the Department of the Navy.
  • 3HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. L no. 7.