Model of a Caisson in its Bed

anonymous, 1800

Spantmodel van een schipdeur met dubbele kiel, in de sponningen van een droogdok geplaatst. Aan de ene zijde is de schipdeur geheel afgewerkt, de andere kant open. Delen van de drie dekken, die door trappen worden verbonden, kunnen worden verwijderd; binnen een indeling in compartimenten. Twee kleine spuigaten onder aan de gesloten zijde; hun bediening is onduidelijk, maar lijkt te gebeuren met wigvormige afsluiters. Slechts een pomp aan iedere kant. De opening van het droogdok heeft drie sponningen, zodat de schipdeur op twee plaatsen kan worden gezet.

  • Artwork typedemonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-991
  • Dimensionsheight 19.5 cm x width 40 cm x depth 18 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood and brass

anonymous

Model of a Caisson in its Bed

? Netherlands, France, 1800

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, januari 2012: cleaned; revarnished

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-991

Entry

Frame model of a double-keeled caisson serving as a lock gate for a dry dock, placed at the entrance of a dock.

One side of the caisson is finished, the other half is open. Parts of the three decks can be removed and are joined by stairs. Inside, the caisson is divided into compartments. Two small floodgates are at the closed side. Their operation is unclear, but seems to work with a wedge-shaped valve. Only one pump is indicated to either side. There are three rabbets in the walls and floor of the dock entrance, enabling the caisson to be placed in two alternate positions.

This model of a caisson has many similarities with the design by the French engineer Antoine Groignard (1727-1799) dating from 1778 and has exactly the same dimensions.1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, p. 2; NG-MC-5. A very similar model of this caisson is in the collection of Teylers Museum in Haarlem.2Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv. no. FK 1793.01, see G.l’E. Turner, Van Marum’s Scientific Instruments in Teyler’s Museum, in E. Lefebvre and J.G. de Bruijn (eds.), Martinus van Marum: Life and Work, 6 vols., vol. 2, Leiden 1973, pp. 127-401, no. 76.

Scale unknown.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 991

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Caisson in its Bed, Netherlands, 1800', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20054056

(accessed 15 December 2025 19:13:12).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, p. 2; NG-MC-5.
  • 2Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv. no. FK 1793.01, see G.l’E. Turner, Van Marum’s Scientific Instruments in Teyler’s Museum, in E. Lefebvre and J.G. de Bruijn (eds.), Martinus van Marum: Life and Work, 6 vols., vol. 2, Leiden 1973, pp. 127-401, no. 76.