Half Model of a Paddle Steamer

Rijkswerf Rotterdam, c. 1844 - c. 1848

Gepolychromeerd, geheel beplankt mallenmodel (stuurboord) van een driemast raderstoomschip. Het model toont vier geschutpoorten. Het schegbeeld is een vergulde krul. Elliptisch hek; roer met ronde roerkoning (Soetermeers versie), roerblad onder schuin. Raderkast afgedekt met omgekeerde reddingboot; voor en achter de raderkast roosters; aan dek een schoorsteen. Volledig vlakke zeeg, een reehout. Rondspant. Schaal 1:40 (Obreen).

  • Artwork typeship model, builder's model, half model
  • Object numberNG-MC-481
  • Dimensionsheight 30 cm x width 144 cm x depth 20 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood and brass

Rijkswerf Rotterdam

Half Model of a Paddle Steamer

Rotterdam, c. 1844 - c. 1848

Inscriptions

  • inscription, centre left, on an oval label:STOOMSCHIP / VESUVIUS
  • inscription, bottom right, on a piece of paper, in ink:Voornaamste Afmetingen. / [followed by measurements] / Rotterdam, Augustus 1848 / De Hoofdingenieur der Marine / C.J. Glavimans
  • label, centre right:481 former inventory label

Conservation

  • Restauratieatelier Scheepsmodellen, 2008: restored

Provenance

…; Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, August 1848;1According to an inscription on the model. transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-481

Entry

Polychromed and fully planked wooden half bracket model of the starboard side of a three-masted paddle steamer, mounted on a rectangular, white-painted wooden backboard.

The side of the ship that is painted black is planked and features a closed paddle box. The paddle box has gratings fore and aft and carries an upturned lifeboat on top. Four gun ports are in the bulwark. The rounded bow features a detailed beakhead with a decorative, gold-painted scroll as a billethead. The cathead is decorated with a lion’s head, painted gold. Below the elliptical stern a round-headed rudder of the Soetermeer type is indicated, with the blade coming up at the rear. The sheer is flat. One sheer rail is indicated. The hull is round and painted a metallic copper colour below the waterline. A black-painted funnel protrudes from the deck. The position of three masts and the bowsprit are shown in a truncated form.

The model was sent from Rotterdam to the Department of the Navy in August 1848.2See inscription; HNA 2.12.01 Min. Marine, inv. no. 3956 & Exh. 2/9/1848 N14. The 7-gun paddle steamer Vesuvius, 43 metres long, was built by Cornelis Jan Glavimans (1796-1857) in Rotterdam from 1840 to 1843. The ship made a false start to the Dutch East Indies in 1844 and returned to Falmouth a couple of times and in the end even to Amsterdam for repairs. It set out again in 1845 and arrived in 1846, remaining in the Dutch East Indies until its discharge in 1857.3A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 46.

Scale (according to Obreen)4J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 481. 1:40.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 481; A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 46

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Rijkswerf Rotterdam, Half Model of a Paddle Steamer, Rotterdam, c. 1844 - c. 1848', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20053769

(accessed 16 December 2025 12:08:42).

Footnotes

  • 1According to an inscription on the model.
  • 2See inscription; HNA 2.12.01 Min. Marine, inv. no. 3956 & Exh. 2/9/1848 N14.
  • 3A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 46.
  • 4J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 481.