Model of a Lighthouse

anonymous, 1838

On 5 October 1833 the amount raised by the lottery was announced. After costs the lottery made ? 6484,98. A total of 5723 tickets had been sold and 911 prizes awarded.

  • Artwork typeshow model
  • Object numberNG-MC-829
  • Dimensionsheight 160 cm x width 112 cm x depth 110 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, bronze, glass, plaster and sand

anonymous

Model of a Lighthouse

Netherlands, Netherlands, Netherlands, 1840

Inscriptions

  • inscription, top centre:j.c.j. VAN SPEYK.
  • inscription, bottom, left from the doorway:JANUS CAROLUS JOSEPHUS VAN SPEYK. / PRAEFECTUS / SCAPHAE BELLICAE NO II / INSCALDI / AD ANTWERPIAM / AB SEDITIOSIS BELGIS OPPRESSUS / DECUS VEXILLI NEERLANDICI / INTEGRE SERVATYUM / VITAE PRAETULIYT / PULVERUM PYRIUM INCENDIT / SIBI MORTEM / ET IMMORTALEM GLORIAM PEPERIT / NONIS FEBRUARIS MDCCCXXXI.
  • inscription, bottom, right from the doorway:REX GULIELMUS I / HANC PHARUM / SUMTU / COLLEGII / SPEI NAUTICAE / ET QUIBUS FACINUS / INVICTI JUVENIS / ADMIRATIONE FUIT / MUTATAM / PUBLICUM MONUMENTUM / FECIT APPELLAVITQUE / TURRUM JANI VAN SPEYK. / INAUGUB. MDCCCXXXVIII.

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-829

Entry

Wooden model of a lighthouse with a round base, positioned on top of a square building, mounted on a square base.

The entire model is covered in sand and painted in two shades of grey. The building, which looks like a mausoleum, surrounds the foot of the tower, and has a lowered entrance on the landward side, flanked by Latin inscriptions. The tower has five round windows decorated with wreaths on the seaward side, and on the landward side two wreaths with crossed anchors within them, and the inscription ‘j.c.j. VAN SPEYK’ between stars above, and a military decoration hanging from palm branches, below. The top has a round balcony with a balustrade, representing a row of torches; the lighting part has ten sides, of which the four facing landwards are blind; it has a dome-shaped roof with a weather vane shaped as an arrow.

The Van Speyk lighthouse is a memorial in remembrance of Lieutenant Jan van Speyk (1802-1831), who died in an action on the river Scheldt near Antwerp, blowing up his ship and sacrificing himself before allowing the ship to be captured by the Belgian enemy. For this he was worshipped as a hero. The initiative to erect a monument in his honour was taken by the College Zeemanshoop. In the end it was decided that the 25 metres tall lighthouse of Egmond aan Zee would be transferred into a monument, while retaining its function as a lighthouse.

Scale (according to Obreen)1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 829. 1:20.

Literature

J.C. de Leeuw, ‘Het monument opgerigt ter eere van J.C.J. van Speyk te Egmond aan Zee’, Bouwkundige Bijdrage 1 (1843), pp. 180-83, pl. XI; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 829; L. Crommelin and H. van Suchtelen, Nederlandse vuurtorens. Bouw en organisatie, Nieuwkoop 1978, pp. 54-59, 75; S. de Vries, De lucht in gevlogen, de hemel in geprezen. Eerbewijzen voor Van Speyk, Haarlem 1988, pp. 41-42, 75-78

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Lighthouse, Netherlands, 1838', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20053991

(accessed 10 December 2025 07:47:26).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 829.