Model of a Ship Camel

...; collection Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1765-1837), Amsterdam, 1807;¹¹HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. E no. 15. Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1837;²²After the death of Asmus in 1837 models from his private collection remained in the Navy Model Room in The Hague and were henceforth considered an integral part of the collection of the Department of the Navy. transferred to the museum, 1883

ObjectNumber: NG-MC-24

Construction model of a ship camel, the starboard one of a pair. The planking has been left off, revealing its construction and interior. The hull is shaped as a rectangular box, with one of its sides resembling the impression of a ship’s hull. The model has three levels: the bottom, between decks and the upper deck. The inside is divided into six compartments with bulkheads. Between decks aft are living quarters, with a decorated window and a chimney for a galley. The stern side can be opened with two gates. The model is fully detailed with twenty-three pumps in two rows, twelve cocks for flooding, twenty windlasses with their tackles running to the bottom of the camel through wooden casing, two catheads, riding bitts, a capstan aft, twelve hatches and a rudder.

This model is first mentioned as part of the private collection of Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837) in 1807,³³HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. E no. 15. then still consisting of both camels. A pair of ship camels of this type, named Pylades and Arestes, was built by shipwright Jan L. Sweerus for the Admiralty of Friesland in 1783.⁴⁴T. Roodhuyzen, De Admiraliteit van Friesland, Franeker 2003, p. 36. They were made specifically for Harlingen and, therefore, were smaller than the camels used in Amsterdam. The pair was destroyed by the British during an attack on the Vlaak in 1799.⁵⁵J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 24; HNA 1.01.47.36 Admiraliteitscolleges, Losse Aanwinsten, inv. no. 17, Genealogie Asmus.

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 24; R.M. Haubourdin et al., De physique existentie dezes lands. Jan Blanken, inspecteur-generaal van de waterstaat (1755-1838), exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1987, no. 133 (with wrong inv. no.); G. Boven and A. Hoving, Scheepskamelen & waterschepen. ‘Eene ellendige talmerij, doch lofflijk middel’, Zutphen 2009, pp. 45-46

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Ship Camel, Harlingen, c. 1784', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.242749