Model of the Ameland Lighthouse

Gieterij Nering Bögel, 1880

Quirinus Harder was the most important Dutch designer of lighthouses in the second half of the 19th century. His last design was the round (nowadays red-and-white banded) lighthouse of Ameland (Hollum); at 55 meters, it ranks among the tallest in the Netherlands. The tower wall consists of cast-iron segments that can be assembled like a do-it-yourself kit on site. It has served as a beacon to guide ships since 10 May 1881.

  • Artwork typescale model, presentation model
  • Object numberNG-MC-1421
  • Dimensionsheight 154.5 cm x width 38.6 cm x depth 38.6 cm, height 148.5 cm x diameter 33.7 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbrass and wood

Gieterij Nering Bögel

Model of a Lighthouse

? Deventer, Netherlands, 1880

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-1421

Entry

Brass model of the Ameland lighthouse, mounted on a wooden pedestal.

The model is closed and round, has a door and twenty-six windows. Part of the wall near the base has been omitted to show the second storey with a central column. The top has a round balcony with a protruding door, and a dome-shaped roof with a weathervane shaped as an arrow.

The Ameland lighthouse was built by the firm Gieterij Nering Bögel from Deventer in 1880 and was made entirely of cast iron. It had a height of 48 metres and a diameter of 9.24 metres.

Scale (estimate) approx. 1:30.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1421; L. Crommelin and H. van Suchtelen, Nederlandse vuurtorens. Bouw en organisatie, Nieuwkoop 1978, p. 74; W.J. van Heuvel, ‘Vuurtorens en het bouwen met gietijzer’, Polytechnisch Tijdschrift. Bouwkunde, wegen- en waterbouw 33 (1978), no. 11, pp. 648-58; B.S. Kapsenberg, Uit ijzer gegoten. Beeld van de Deventer ijzergieterij Nering-Bögel en haar produkten (1756-1932), Zutphen 1982, pp. 78-79; W. Burgers, ‘De ontwerper van de ijzeren vuurtorens. Levensbericht van Quirinus Harder (1801-1880)’, Erfgoed van Industrie en Techniek 6 (1997), no. 2, pp. 59-63

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Gieterij Nering Bögel, Model of a Lighthouse, Deventer, 1880', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316206

(accessed 30 November 2025 05:34:01).