Half model of the screw-propeller steamer <Medusa>

Rijkswerf Amsterdam, 1855 - 1856

Gepolychromeerd, geheel beplankt mallenmodel (stuurboord) van een driemast schroefstoomschip. Het model heeft elf geschutpoorten. Het schegbeeld is een vergulde krul. Elliptisch hek met lege sierlijst; roer met ronde roerkoning (Amerikaans roer) en afgerond roerblad; tweebladige schroef in schroeflichttoestel, de schroefkoker is in het model aangebracht. Zeeg naar beide einden een weinig oplopend, een reehout. Rondspant. Het model is voorzien van alle rusten met puttings. Schaal 1:50 (schaal op model).

  • Artwork typeship model, builder's model, half model
  • Object numberNG-MC-485
  • Dimensionsheight 35 cm x width 138 cm x depth 15 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass and paint

Rijkswerf Amsterdam

Half Model of a Screw Steamer

Amsterdam, 1855 - 1856

Inscriptions

  • inscription, top centre, on an oval blue label:MEDUSA / Korvet met Stoomvermogen / 150 PK, 19 Stukken / 1/50 ware grootte
  • label, bottom right:485 former inventory label
  • inscription, in the screw aperture:NM former property mark
  • inscription, bottom left:B.42 (31a) former inventory marking

Conservation

  • Restauratieatelier Scheepsmodellen, 2000: restored
  • Sophie Glerum, november 2012: minor repairs

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-485

Entry

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

The side of the ship that is painted black is planked on top of frame moulds. Eleven gun ports are painted on the side, placed in one tier. A broad, horizontal creamy-white band highlights the gun deck. The rounded bow features a detailed beakhead with a decorative, gold-painted scroll as a billethead. Below the elliptical stern is a screw propeller in its aperture and a round-headed rudder with a rounded blade. The sheer rises slightly towards both ends, one sheer rail is indicated. The hull is round and painted a metallic copper below the waterline. The model has three sets of channels rigged with deadeyes and chainplates. The position of three masts and the bowsprit is shown in a truncated form.

The model was ordered from the Navy dockyard in Amsterdam in 1855 and sent to the Department of the Navy in 1856.1HNA 2.12.01 Min. Marine, inv. no. 3979. The 19-gun sloop of war Medusa, 50.44 metres long, was built by August Elize Tromp (1801-1871) in Amsterdam from 1852 to 1854.2J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 485. It was also classed as a 26-gun corvette with auxiliary steam propulsion. Medusa became famous because of its part in the actions in the Strait of Shimonoseki, Japan, in 1863. It was decommissioned in the Dutch East Indies in 1866.3A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 85.

Scale (on model) 1:50.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 485; A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 85; H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, pp. 56-57; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 206-09

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Rijkswerf Amsterdam, Half Model of a Screw Steamer, Amsterdam, 1855 - 1856', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315795

(accessed 15 December 2025 17:40:02).

Footnotes

  • 1HNA 2.12.01 Min. Marine, inv. no. 3979.
  • 2J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 485.
  • 3A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 85.