Model of a lifeboat on a wagon

anonymous, 1808

Greathead was a boat builder from South Shields in England. After witnessing a shipwreck, around 1789 he designed an ‘unsinkable’ lifeboat. In the Netherlands three lifeboats based on his design were built in 1806, for service on Terschelling and at Callantsoog and Ter Heijde. These were followed by a further six in 1809. The casing of the sides in cork, however, proved to be less buoyant than anticipated.

  • Artwork typeship model, demonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-848
  • Dimensionsheight 20.1 cm x length 76.6 cm x width 28.6 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass and cork

anonymous

Model of a Lifeboat on a Cart

Amsterdam, South Shields, 1808

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, 2005: minor repairs

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-848

Entry

Wooden frame model of a lifeboat on a cart.

Clinker-built single banked double-ender with bilge keels and a round hull, the sheer coming up towards both ends. It has twelve thole pins for five thwarts, which are linked by a plank from fore to aft. The model has an after and fore cuddy. Side benches, which are stuffed with cork beneath, are set against the rising. A thick layer of cork are secured to the outside of the gunwale with brass bands, on which four knights are mounted. One oar acts as a side rudder, and there is one ordinary oar. Of the cart, only the frame with the axles for the missing wheels still exists: it has rollers for launching the boat.

The model is identical to model NG-MC-1179, except for the cart. More models of the same scale are known to exist.1Rotterdam, Maritiem Museum, inv. no. M20, see Schatkamer der scheepvaart, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Maritiem Museum ‘Prins Hendrik’) 1974, no. 20; Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, inv. nos. SLR0561, SLR0562, SLR0563, SLR0564, see G. Clifton and N. Rigby (eds.), Treasures of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 2004, p. 24; Dordrecht, Museum Huis Van Gijn, inv. no. 3, see R.H. Rozendaal and H. Stevens, Schepen op schaal, Dordrecht 2001, pp. 54-55. Henry Greathead (1757-1818), a shipwright from South Shields, invented this lifeboat in 1789, after having witnessed a terrible shipwreck. Three boats designed by Greathead were built at the Navy dockyards in Rotterdam and Amsterdam circa 1806, to do service in Terheide, Terschelling and Calantsoog. Six other boats were built between 1808 and 1809. Soon, better types were developed as Greathead’s lifeboats had less buoyancy than was expected and they could not up-turn themselves when overturned. They were however the first ‘unsinkable’ lifeboats in the Netherlands.

Scale 1:12.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 848; Gedenkboek der Noord- en Zuid-Hollandse Reddingmaatschappij, s.l. 1924, pp. 29-31; Catalogus Rijksmuseum Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1928, p. 86, pl. 86; Catalogus Rijksmuseum Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1943, p. 127, pl. 57; H.T. de Booy, Nederlandse kustreddingboten, Alkmaar (1966), pp. 4-5; E. Pâris, Souvenirs de Marine, facsimile, 3 vols., Grenoble 1975-76, vol. 1, pl. 54; M. Marzari, Progetti per l’imperatore. Andrea Salvini ingegnere a l’arsenal 1802-1817, Trieste 1990, pp. 37, 51; A.G. Osler, Mr Greathead’s Lifeboats, Newcastle upon Tyne 1990; May 1999, pp. 77-81; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 174-75

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Lifeboat on a Cart, Amsterdam, 1808', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315928

(accessed 15 December 2025 18:41:00).

Footnotes

  • 1Rotterdam, Maritiem Museum, inv. no. M20, see Schatkamer der scheepvaart, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Maritiem Museum ‘Prins Hendrik’) 1974, no. 20; Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, inv. nos. SLR0561, SLR0562, SLR0563, SLR0564, see G. Clifton and N. Rigby (eds.), Treasures of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 2004, p. 24; Dordrecht, Museum Huis Van Gijn, inv. no. 3, see R.H. Rozendaal and H. Stevens, Schepen op schaal, Dordrecht 2001, pp. 54-55.