Half model of a 74-gun ship of the line

anonymous, Rijkswerf Vlissingen, 1831

Gepolychromeerd mallenmodel (stuurboord) van een driemaster. Zesenveertig geschutpoorten op drie dekken. Het schegbeeld is een torso van Michiel de Ruyter, geharnast. Op de kraanbalk een leeuwenkop. Achterschip met elliptisch hek en zijgalerij van twee verdiepingen, versierd met krulwerk, westergang en rijkswapen tegen het hek; recht roer met vierkante roerkoning. De zeeg is bijna vlak, één barkhout. Gepiekt rondspant. Schaal 1:50 (afgeleid).

  • Artwork typeship model, builder's model, half model
  • Object numberNG-MC-324
  • Dimensionsheight 36.9 cm x width 134.7 cm x depth 16.6 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass and paint

anonymous, Rijkswerf Vlissingen

Half Model of a 74-Gun Ship of the Line

Netherlands, Flushing, Flushing, 1831

Inscriptions

  • inscription, top centre, on an oval label:DE RUIJTER / LINIE SCHIP à 74 St.
  • label, bottom left:324 former inventory label

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, november 2008: stern and mizzenmast reconstructed

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-324

Entry

Polychromed wooden half bracket model of the starboard side of a three-masted ship, mounted on a rectangular wooden backboard.

The side of the ship is depicted by ribbands attached to frame moulds. The side above the wale is planked and is painted black, with two white bands running along the full length of the two gun decks. Forty-six shadowed gun ports are indicated in three tiers. The sheer is almost flat. One wale is indicated. The bow features a fully detailed beakhead with a bust of Michiel Adriaensz de Ruyter in armour as its figurehead and a cathead decorated with a lion’s head, both are painted gold. The elliptic stern, taffrail and two-storey quarter galleries are decorated with white scrollwork, the taffrail has a sternwalk and bears the coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Below the stern a straight, square-headed rudder is indicated. The hull is S-bottomed and painted white below the waterline. The position of three masts and the bowsprit is shown in a truncated form.

The 74-gun ship of the line De Ruyter was built by August Elize Tromp (1801-1871) and laid down in Flushing in 1831.1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 324. While still on the stocks in 1843, De Ruyter was reduced (‘razeed’) to a 51-gun frigate and was finally launched in 1853. The ship was converted to a screw steamer from 1859 to 1860, and was again converted, this time to a steam battery, from 1862 to 1863. De Ruyter was broken up in 1874.2A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, pp. 2, 55. The appearance of the De Ruyter in later life as a cut-down or razeed frigate is well-illustrated by model NG-MC-323.

Scale (derived) 1:50.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 324; A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, pp. 2, 55; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 176-81

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous or Rijkswerf Vlissingen, Half Model of a 74-Gun Ship of the Line, , 1831', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315766

(accessed 13 December 2025 22:02:57).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 324.
  • 2A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, pp. 2, 55.