Captured Ordnance

circle of Laurens Oxsen, 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 typecannon
  • Object numberNG-MC-1104
  • Dimensionsbase ring: diameter 22.3 cm, diameter 7.6 cm, muzzle-vent: length 112 cm, total: length 136 cm x diameter 33.5 cm, length 14.5 cm, barrel: diameter 13.3 cm x diameter 20.5 cm, trunnion: diameter 6.7 cm, calibre 6.7 cm x weight 210 kg, length 121.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbronze

Laurens Oxsen (circle of)

Gun

Batavia, 1667

Inscriptions

  • date, on the barrel:1667
  • monogram, on the barrel:A VOC
  • inscription, on the barrel:BATAVIA
  • on the breech ring:432

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-1104

Entry

Bronze muzzle-loading gun of a European type.

It has a wreath-shaped muzzle, muzzle astragal fillets, chase astragal fillets, second reinforcement mouldings, dolphins and trunnions, first reinforcement mouldings, vent astragal fillets, base mouldings, a flat breech base and a bud-shaped cascabel button. To each side of the vent, which is surrounded by a rectangular rim, a button on which a vent cover can be secured is positioned. On the first reinforcement an oval cartouche is depicted, with the monogram of the Amsterdam chamber of the Dutch East India Company and inscriptions. Where the dolphins are moulded, the gun is decorated with diamond-shaped motifs. The breech is decorated with point motifs.

This gun was captured during the Djambi expedition in August 1858. The mark ‘D’ mentioned in the inventory1J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1104. could not be found.

It is possible that the gun was manufactured in the circle of Laurens Oxsen, who, originally from Schleswig-Holstein, from 1656 onwards manufactured guns for the Dutch East India Company in Batavia.2E. Sint Nicolaas, ‘Drie “Indische kanonnen” en hun geschiedenis, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 40-57.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1104; E. Sint Nicolaas, ‘Drie “Indische kanonnen” en hun geschiedenis, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 40-57

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'circle of Laurens Oxsen, Gun, Batavia, 1667', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20018652

(accessed 11 December 2025 11:55:58).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1104.
  • 2E. Sint Nicolaas, ‘Drie “Indische kanonnen” en hun geschiedenis, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 40-57.