Model of a Marker Waterschip

anonymous, c. 1850 - c. 1870

Marken water boat. Model, c. 1850-1870. Marken water boats were originally fishing vessels from the island of Marken. In the late 17th century they began to be used for towing ships raised in ship's camels over the shallow waters of the Zuiderzee to Den Helder. There the ships received their cargo and crew.

  • Artwork typeship model, demonstration model, fully rigged model
  • Object numberNG-MC-1089
  • Dimensionsheight 96 cm x length 100 cm x width 30.2 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass, rope and textile

anonymous

Model of a Marker Waterschip

Netherlands, c. 1850 - c. 1870

Provenance

...; collection Mr J. Schouten, Dordrecht; purchased by the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1861;1A. Lemmers (ed.), Maritime Technology from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Multimedia Catalogue of the Dutch Navy Model Collection 1698-1889, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. MC-1089. transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-1089


Entry

Rigged wooden model of a single-masted Dutch fishing vessel, called a ‘Marker waterschip’.

A carvel-built double-ender with a high, almost vertical stem, and a falling straight sternpost. At the stern a broad rudder with a wooden tiller is positioned. The model has one deck and a deckhouse that covers a cabin. The cabin is completely panelled with galley, bunks and cupboards. The deckhouse is clinker built and of the curved shape typical for vessels of this type, and has a small chimney on top. Forward against the deckhouse is a windlass. Further windlasses are in the bow and in the stern, and three small ones on the after deck. The model has two anchors. The sheer rises steeply towards the bows. The hull is round with a keel. The model is rigged with a sprit rig, carrying the mainsail and foresail.

The model was bought by the Department of the Navy, together with model numbers NG-MC-1087 and NG-MC-1091, from the collection of J. Schouten in Dordrecht in 1861. The ‘Marker waterschip’ was originally a fishing vessel with a well or fish box for holding a live catch, its design is related to that of the botter, but it is without leeboards. They fished with trawl nets and were very fast sailers. From the seventeenth century onwards they were also used to tow ships in camels across the Pampus.

Scale unknown.


Literature

P. le Comte, Afbeeldingen van schepen en vaartuigen in verschillende bewegingen, Amsterdam 1831, pl. 35; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1089; E.W. Petrejus, Oude zeilschepen en hun modellen, Bussum 1971, pp. 116-20; A.J. Hoving, ‘Ship Camels and Waterships’, Model Shipwright 76 (1991), pp. 32-36; R. Daalder and E. Spits, Schepen van de Gouden Eeuw, Zutphen 2005, pp. 43-50


Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Marker Waterschip, Netherlands, c. 1850 - c. 1870', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316063

(accessed 9 December 2025 15:30:39).

Footnotes

  • 1A. Lemmers (ed.), Maritime Technology from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Multimedia Catalogue of the Dutch Navy Model Collection 1698-1889, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. MC-1089.