Model reconstruction of a single-masted ship excavated at Capelle

attributed to Johannes Petrus Scholten, 1822

In 1822 the remains of a ship and an anchor were unearthed at Capelle in the province of Noord Brabant. The single-masted vessel had been deployed during the siege of the nearby town of Geertruidenberg in 1593. This was the first archaeological excavation of a ship in the Netherlands. This model is a reconstruction of the vessel. Quite remarkably, it was made of wood recovered from the excavated ship.

  • Artwork typeship model, hull model, reconstruction model
  • Object numberNG-MC-999
  • Dimensionsheight 25.4 cm x length 97 cm x width 33.6 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood and iron

Johannes Petrus Scholten (attributed to)

Model of a Single-Masted Vessel

Waalwijk, 1822

Inscriptions

  • inscription, on the floor:1822 D 4 M

Provenance

…; Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, The Hague, 1822;1NHA 476 KKvZ, inv. no. 844, nos. 3. transferred to the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1859;2NHA 476 KKvZ, inv. no. 917, no. 11. transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-999

Entry

Model of a single-masted vessel without rigging.

Flat-bottomed, clinker-built, double-ender with a straight raking stem and sternpost. The deck beams indicate one main deck, the model has a fore and after cuddy, each with a hatch. On the after cuddy a windlass is fitted, in the fore cuddy are two pump trunks. In the hold aft is a bulkhead. The sheer rises towards both ends and the model has one wale. The model has a mast trunk, mast step and chains.

The model is a first reconstruction of the boat discovered on 22 February 1822 in the town of Capelle in North Brabant and subsequently excavated. It is entirely made out of material from the original vessel, but was made before the entire boat had been excavated and therefore is more an interpretation than a reconstruction.The model was made by Mr Johannes Petrus Scholten, a lawyer from the nearby town of Waalwijk, and handed to Minister of Finance Felix van Maanen when he visited the archaeological site. Van Maanen in turn presented it to the king, who had it placed in the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden (Royal Cabinet of Curiosities) in The Hague.3J. Hendriks, Het schip van Capelle, Waalwijk 2014. In 1859, it was transferred to the Navy Model Room.4NHA 476 KKvZ, inv. no. 844, nos. 3, 9, inv. no. 917, no. 11. In 1882 the model was shown at the International Ship Model Exhibition in London.5Catalogue of the International Ship Model Exhibition, exh. cat. London (?) 1882.

The discovery of the boat resulted in the first maritime archaeological excavation in the Netherlands and garnered substantial public interest throughout the country. The excavations were commissioned by the Secretary of the Navy and supervised by the junior engineer of the Navy, Cornelis Jan Glavimans (1796-1857). The excavations were described in a report of the Koninklijk Academie van Wetenschappen (Royal Academy of Science).6C.J. Glavimans, ‘Naauwkeurig berigt en afbeelding van het in de gemeente Capelle ontdekte schip’, Konst- en Letterbode, 9 August 1822, pp. 99-102; J. de Vries et al., Verslag nopens het vaartuig op den 22en Februari 1822 in de gemeente Capelle op Langstraat onder den bovengrond ontdekt, (Amsterdam 1822).

Glavimans concluded that the vessel must have belonged to the naval detachment during the blockade of the town of Geertruidenberg in 1593. It was probably left behind in Capelle and sank when the dam burst in 1644. Glavimans himself made a second model (NG-NM-889),7An identical model is in the collection of the Maritiem Museum in Rotterdam, inv. no. M63. which is far more accurate. An anchor was also found, which is also in the collection of the Rijksmuseum (NG-NM-890).

Scale unknown.

Literature

C.J. Glavimans, ‘Naauwkeurig berigt en afbeelding van het in de gemeente Capelle ontdekte schip’, Konst- en Letterbode, 9 August 1822, pp. 99-102; J. de Vries et al., Verslag nopens het vaartuig op den 22en Februari 1822 in de gemeente Capelle op Langstraat onder den bovengrond ontdekt, (Amsterdam 1822); Catalogue of the International Ship Model Exhibition, exh. cat. London (?) 1882; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 999; R. Reinders, ‘Scheepsarcheologie in Nederland’, in KNOB (ed.), Verantwoord onder water, Amsterdam/Zutphen 1989, pp. 15-40; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 152-53; N. Habermehl, ‘Cornelis Jan Glavimans. (1795-1857). Scheepsbouwer en archeoloog’, in J. van de Akker and R. Oosting (eds.), Maritiem cultuurlandschap. Inleidingen gehouden tijdens het elfde Glavimans Symposion. Amersfoort, 30 mei 2008, Amersfoort 2013, pp. 61-69; J. Hendriks, Het schip van Capelle, Waalwijk 2014

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'attributed to Johannes Petrus Scholten, Model of a Single-Masted Vessel, Waalwijk, 1822', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316021

(accessed 9 December 2025 05:01:40).

Footnotes

  • 1NHA 476 KKvZ, inv. no. 844, nos. 3.
  • 2NHA 476 KKvZ, inv. no. 917, no. 11.
  • 3J. Hendriks, Het schip van Capelle, Waalwijk 2014.
  • 4NHA 476 KKvZ, inv. no. 844, nos. 3, 9, inv. no. 917, no. 11.
  • 5Catalogue of the International Ship Model Exhibition, exh. cat. London (?) 1882.
  • 6C.J. Glavimans, ‘Naauwkeurig berigt en afbeelding van het in de gemeente Capelle ontdekte schip’, Konst- en Letterbode, 9 August 1822, pp. 99-102; J. de Vries et al., Verslag nopens het vaartuig op den 22en Februari 1822 in de gemeente Capelle op Langstraat onder den bovengrond ontdekt, (Amsterdam 1822).
  • 7An identical model is in the collection of the Maritiem Museum in Rotterdam, inv. no. M63.