Model of a Spoon Dredger

anonymous, 1627

Scoop dredger, model, c. 1800, after a design of 1627. Silting was a major problem in Dutch harbours, especially after 1600 as ships became larger and draughts deeper. To keep the harbours accessible numerous inventions were proposed in the 17th century. One example is this scoop dredger. The twelve 'scoops' were each operated by one man using the hoists on the raised deck. The silt was dumped in the two barges.

  • Artwork typeship model, demonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-1090
  • Dimensionsmodel: height 21.5 cm x width 80.5 cm x depth 45.5 cm, packaging capsule: height 24.5 cm x width 83.5 cm x depth 55.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood and brass

anonymous

Model of a Spoon Dredger

Netherlands, Netherlands, c. 1800

Provenance

…; collection Mr J. Schouten, Dordrecht; purchased by the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1861;1A. Lemmers (ed.), Maritime Technology from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Multimedia Catalogue of the Dutch Navy Model Collection 1698-1889, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. MC-1090. transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-1090

Entry

Model of a spoon dredger, mounted on a base.

The pontoon has six winches on an elevated deck, each worked by hand. The cable of every individual drum has each end connected to a spoon, so that while one spoon rises, the other is lowered. After every stroke the rotation is reversed. Each of the twelve spoons is manoeuvred by a man standing on one of two floats. The man pushes the spoon into the mud, and after it has been lifted he unloads it into one of the two sailing mud barges, which have a mast that can be lowered. At the other side of the pontoon two small boats are secured, probably carrying ballast as a counterweight against the pull of the dredger.

The model was bought by the Department of the Navy, together with models NG-MC-1087 and NG-MC-1091, from the collection of J. Schouten in Dordrecht in 1861. This dredger is the one patented by Dominicus van Wesel in 1627 and was designed for cutting channels under water. The cutting of polder canals before the marsh had been drained, as is done today, may have been a novel feature of the invention. According to the inventory this dredger was used in the harbour of Hellevoetsluis at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century.2J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1090.

Scale unknown.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1090; G. Doorman, Octrooien voor uitvindingen in de Nederlanden uit de 16de-18de eeuw, The Hague 1940, G.278; G. Doorman, ‘Hollandse oude baggermolens’, De Ingenieur 38 (1951), pp. 1-5; C. Singer et al. (eds.), A History of Technology, 5 vols., Oxford 1957-58, vol. 4, pp. 632-33, fig. 339; 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. 71

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Spoon Dredger, Netherlands, 1627', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20054103

(accessed 29 November 2025 10:52:50).

Footnotes

  • 1A. Lemmers (ed.), Maritime Technology from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Multimedia Catalogue of the Dutch Navy Model Collection 1698-1889, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. MC-1090.
  • 2J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1090.