Captured Ordnance

anonymous, 1667

After Java was brought entirely under Dutch rule during the Java War (1825–1830), the Dutch sought to gain control of the other Indonesian islands as well. Various military expeditions were mounted to force the rulers of these islands to recognize Dutch authority. These cannons were seized during those battles. One is an old Dutch East India Company cannon of 1667.

  • Artwork typelilla
  • Object numberNG-MC-1103
  • Dimensionslength 154 cm, weight 150.6 kg, total: length 172 cm x diameter 22 cm, length 18 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbronze

anonymous

Lantaka

Indonesian Archipelago, 1667

Provenance

...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-1103


Entry

Bronze muzzle-loading gun on a swivel.

The muzzle is shaped like the head of a dragon with an open mouth, the upper jaw longer than the lower jaw. On the head of the dragon an ornament is placed. The transitions from muzzle to round barrel and from barrel to octagonal reinforcement are decorated with triangles filled with ornaments. The upper face of the octagonal part is also decorated. To the rear it has a vent, flanked by buttons for a vent cover. The gun has a tubular hollow cascabel button to fit a wooden tiller. The trunnion rings of the bronze yoke are forged around the trunnions, so that the gun cannot be removed from the yoke.

This lantaka was captured during the Djambi expedition in August 1858. According to the inventory it should be marked with a ‘D’ to commemorate this,1J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1103. but the mark could not be found.


Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1103; H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, pp. 44-47; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 220-223


Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Lantaka, Indonesian Archipelago, 1667', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20018651

(accessed 10 December 2025 18:30:42).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1103.