Model of a ship’s galley

anonymous, anonymous, c. 1799 - c. 1820

Food was prepared in the ship’s galley. This model represents how a galley would have looked on French naval ships from around 1799. One side was used to cook for the officers, the other for the rest of the crew. The ideal of equality promoted by the 1789 French Revolution clearly had not yet extended to the French navy.

  • Artwork typedemonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-573
  • Dimensionsheight 37.7 cm x width 48.8 cm x depth 37.2 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass and tinned copper

anonymous, anonymous

Model of a Ship's Galley

Netherlands, France, France, c. 1799 - c. 1820

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, maart 2005: minor repairs; cleaned; waxed

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-573

Entry

Brass model of a ship’s galley mounted on a wooden base.

The model has a low rectangular structure with a smoke box in the middle that spans the entire length, with a chimney. The galley has small feet which are bolted to the deck. The two cooking areas on either side of the smoke box are identical except for the hot plate: they consist of three hearths with gratings, which can be opened with vertically sliding doors. The metal hot plates have holes for pots and pans and are surrounded by a railing. Between the two rows of hearths underneath the smoke box bread ovens with shelves are indicated, accessible from the short sides. The smoke from the hearths is led over the bread ovens into the smoke box and from there directly into the chimney. There are also small ovens on each short side of the smoke box. Nine small pots, two big ones and a colander belong to the model.

This model was identified by elimination and is therefore uncertain. According to Obreen the ship’s galley represented by this model was the one introduced to the French Navy in 1799.1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 573. At one side the food for the officers was prepared, at the other the food for the common sailors.

Scale unknown.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 573

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous or anonymous, Model of a Ship's Galley, , c. 1799 - c. 1820', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315831

(accessed 6 December 2025 18:13:28).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 573.