Model of an East Indiaman

anonymous, c. 1740 - c. 1750

East Indiaman. Frame model, c. 1740-1750. A series of shipwrecks led to a general debate regarding the seaworthiness of the VOC fleet. In 1741 the directors, the Heren XVII, decided to overhaul the methods employed at the Company's shipyards. The English shipwright Charles Bentam was invited make designs for three types of ship. In a new departure for the VOC, Bentam had models made for use at the shipyards. This model, which divides into constituent pieces, appears to represent one of Bentem's designs - probably for a ship measuring 100 feet (one Amsterdam foot is 28.3 cm or 111/7 inches). The directors set standard measurements for all VOC ships. A feature of these 18th-century VOC ships was their spacious holds.

  • Artwork typeship model, presentation model, hull model
  • Object numberNG-MC-503
  • Dimensionsmodel: height 43.3 cm x length 134 cm x width 35 cm, packaging capsule: height 63.5 cm x width 155.5 cm x depth 45.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood and brass

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Model of an East Indiaman

  • Object type

  • Object number

    NG-MC-503

  • Description

    Spantmodel van de romp van een Oostindiëvaarder; het model kan in twee lagen uiteengenomen worden. Achttien geschutpoorten verdeeld over twee dekken. Drie niveau's: onderdek, tussendek, bakdek en halfdek, alle slechts dekbalken; de vloer van de kajuit is verlaagd, het halfdek is zeer kort. Het schegbeeld stelt Diana met een hond voor. Gewrongen spiegel met een poort aan bakboord, hol wulf met twee poorten, hek van een verdieping met snijwerk van lofwerk, mythologische hoekfiguren en de wapens van Amsterdam en de Kamer van de VOC in Amsterdam; zijgalerijen van een verdieping met lofwerk. Recht roer met vierkante roerkoning. Op de bak een knecht en de scheepsbel, op het hoofddek een dubbele ankerbeting, een knecht, een kaapstander en een opgang. Het model is voorzien van alle rusten met jufferblokken, de grote rust en bezaansrust lopen door. De gladboordige huid is aan bakboord onder de barkhouten weggelaten. De zeeg loopt op naar beide uiteinden, twee barkhouten en een reehout. Rondspant. De rondhouten zijn net boven dek afgezaagd.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    monogram, on the stern: ‘A VOC’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    model maker: anonymous, Amsterdam

  • Dating

    c. 1740 - c. 1750

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    wood and brass

  • Dimensions

    • model: height 43.3 cm x length 134 cm x width 35 cm
    • packaging capsule: height 63.5 cm x width 155.5 cm x depth 45.5 cm

Explanatory note

  • Het model stelt een fregat van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie voor: het vertoont veel gelijkenis met het voorgaande model (NG-MC-502) en houdt vermoedelijk ook verband met de nieuwe ontwerpen van Charles Bentam van 1742.

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

  • Place

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; Kamer Amsterdam der Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company);{J.M. Obreen, _Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine_, The Hague 1858, no. 502.} Departement van Koloniën (Department of the Colonies), The Hague; transferred to the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1850;{Ibid., no. 503.} transferred to the museum, 1883

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  • Model of an East Indiaman
  • Model of an East Indiaman
  • Model of an East Indiaman
  • Model of an East Indiaman
  • Model of an East Indiaman
  • Model of an East Indiaman

anonymous

Model of an East Indiaman

Amsterdam, c. 1740 - c. 1750

Inscriptions

  • monogram, on the stern:A VOC

Provenance

…; Kamer Amsterdam der Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company);1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 502. Departement van Koloniën (Department of the Colonies), The Hague; transferred to the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1850;2Ibid., no. 503. transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-503

Entry

Wooden frame model in two superimposed layers of the hull of an East Indiaman, mounted on a stand.

Eighteen gun ports are indicated in two tiers. The model has a lower deck, main deck, forecastle and quarterdeck, all with beams only. The floor of the cabin is lowered, the quarterdeck is very short. The figurehead represents Diana with a hunting dog. The stern has a round tuck with a gun port to port, a hollow counter with two chase ports, a single-storey taffrail with carvings of foliage, mythological figures in the corners and the coat of arms of the City of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam chamber of the Dutch East India Company.

The single-storey quarter galleries are decorated with carvings of foliage. Below the stern is straight, square-headed rudder is specified. On the forecastle a knighthead and the ship’s bell are indicated, and on the main deck double riding bitts, a knighthead, a capstan and a companionway. The model has two sets of channels rigged with deadeyes, the main and mizzen channels are continuous. The carvel planking is left off to port under the wales. The sheer rises towards both ends, the model has two wales and a sheer rail. The hull is round. The masts have been sawn off just above the decks.

The model was transferred to the Department of the Navy by the Department for the Colonies together with NG-MC-502 in 1850.3J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 503. Both models were part of the collection of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company. This model represents a frigate of the Dutch East India Company and is similar to model NG-MC-502 and probably related to the new designs proposed by Charles Bentam (?-1758) in 1742.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 503; L.G. Carr Laughton, Old Ship Figure-Heads and Sterns, London/New York 1925, p. 60, fig. a; Aust-Agder-Museet (ed.), Aust-Agder-Arv 1985-86. Årbok for Aust-Agder-Museet og Aust-Agder Arkivet, Arendal 1987, pp. 12-14; J.B. Kist, ‘Schepen voor de VOC’, in H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, pp. 20-23; R. Daalder and E. Spits, Schepen van de Gouden Eeuw, Zutphen 2005, pp. 83-90; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 62-67

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of an East Indiaman, Amsterdam, c. 1740 - c. 1750', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20053777

(accessed 8 February 2026 03:00:42).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 502.
  • 2Ibid., no. 503.
  • 3J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 503.