Model of a kiln with a boiler house

anonymous, c. 1800 - c. 1850

This model represents the steam box at the Rotterdam Naval Dockyard. Steam boxes were used to steam the hull planks for ships in order to bend them into the required curvature. The model shows the two boilers that were needed in the boiler house to make steam. It also includes some furniture and a bedstead for the stoker.

  • Artwork typedemonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-989
  • Dimensionsheight 62 cm x width 107.2 cm x depth 53.8 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass, copper, lead and cloth

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Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Model of a kiln with a boiler house
    • Model of a Kiln with Boiler House

  • Object type

  • Object number

    NG-MC-989

  • Description

    Gepolychromeerd model van een houtstoof of stoomkist op een grondplank. Water wordt door een pomp in een reservoir gepompt, vanwaar het naar het ketelhuisje wordt gevoerd. In het huisje zijn twee ketels met ovens eronder in een bakstenen bouwsel met dubbele schoorsteen gebouwd. Er is wat spaarzaam meubilair aanwezig, een bedstee met matras voor de stoker en een trap die naar een niet bestaande zolder voert. De ketels voeden stoom naar de stoomkist met twee boven elkaar liggen kamers: de ene ketel voedt beide kamers, de andere alleen de onderste kamer. In de kamers liggen een paar planken. In dergelijke houtstovens werden de huidplanken gestoomd, zodat zij de rompvorm door de spanten aangegeven, konden aannemen.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    inscription, on the back, on a square paper label: ‘MODEL VAN EEN HOUTSTOOF’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    model maker: anonymous, Rotterdam (possibly)

  • Dating

    c. 1800 - c. 1850

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    wood, brass, copper, lead and cloth

  • Dimensions

    height 62 cm x width 107.2 cm x depth 53.8 cm

Explanatory note

  • Dit model stelt de houtstoof op de voormalige Rijkswerf te Rotterdam voor, die in 1850 werd gesloten. De Italiaanse ingenieur Salvini schreef over de Rotterdamse houtstoof, die hij op zijn reis naar Nederland in 1808-1809 gezien had.

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

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

Documentation

  • Mario Marzari, Progetti per l'imperatore. Andrea Salvini ingegnere a l'arsenal 1802-1817, Trieste 1990, p. 64.

Persistent URL

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anonymous

Model of a Kiln with Boiler House

? Rotterdam, c. 1800 - c. 1850

Inscriptions

  • inscription, on the back, on a square paper label:MODEL VAN EEN HOUTSTOOF

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-989

Entry

Polychromed model of a kiln, mounted on a base.

A pump feeds water into a cistern, from where it is led to the boiler house. Two boilers with fire hearths underneath are built in a brick structure with a double chimney in the boiler house, which has some furniture and a bedstead with a mattress for the stoker; stairs lead to a non-existent loft. The boilers feed steam to the kiln, which has two superimposed chambers: one boiler feeds both chambers, the other only the lower chamber. In the steaming chambers, a couple of planks are laid. The kiln heated the wooden planks that were to be bent against the frames of wooden ships.

This model represents the kiln of the former Rotterdam Navy dockyard, which was closed down in 1850. The Italian engineer Salvini reported on the Rotterdam kiln, which he saw on his travels in Holland from 1808 to 1809.1M. Marzari, Progetti per l’imperatore. Andrea Salvini ingegnere a l’arsenal 1802-1817, Trieste 1990, p. 64.

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. 989

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Kiln with Boiler House, Rotterdam, c. 1800 - c. 1850', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316013

(accessed 3 augustus 2026 20:08:26 UTC+0).

Footnotes

  • 1M. Marzari, Progetti per l’imperatore. Andrea Salvini ingegnere a l’arsenal 1802-1817, Trieste 1990, p. 64.