Model of an Artificial Reef

's Lands Werf Amsterdam, 1800

Model van een waterpalissade of waterruiter. Het is een dakvormig raamwerk met twee rijen scherpe punten bovenaan, in één richting wijzend. Aan de ene kant heeft het gewone ankers, aan de ander dreggen.

  • Artwork typedemonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-807
  • Dimensionsheight 9.5 cm x width 36.1 cm x depth 34.2 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass and lead

's Lands Werf Amsterdam

Model of an Artificial Reef

Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1800

Provenance

…; collection Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837), Amsterdam, 1807;1HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 6. Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1837;2After 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

Object number: NG-MC-807

Entry

Model of an artificial reef, called a ‘waterruiter’ (chevaux-de-frise).

The model features a roof-shaped wooden framework with two rows of sharp points to one side. The reef is weighted with anchors on one side and grapnels on the other.

Artificial reefs were an invention by Hendrik Aeneae (1743-1810), member of the Central Committee for the Navy of the Batavian Republic. Anchored and floating slightly beneath the surface of the water, they were designed to defend harbours against enemy fleet.

This particular design was a counter proposal by Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837), but it was never tested on full scale. It comes from his private collection.3HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 6.

Scale unknown.

Literature

J.P. Asmus, Verzameling der verhandelingen over de defencie der zeegaten ... , s.l. 1800, manuscript in HSM, inv. no. B.0216(0322); J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 807; J.C.J. de Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche zeewezen, 5 vols. and index, Haarlem 1858-62, vol. 5, pp. 509-11; 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. 45; A.A. Lemmers, ‘De kunstklip van Aeneae (1800) en de leugen van Asmus’, Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 12 (1993), no. 2, pp. 111-27; A.A. Lemmers, Techniek op schaal. Modellen en het technologiebeleid van de Marine 1725-1885, Amsterdam 1996, pp. 100-15; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 108-11

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, ''s Lands Werf Amsterdam, Model of an Artificial Reef, Amsterdam, 1800', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20053977

(accessed 8 December 2025 22:08:55).

Footnotes

  • 1HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 6.
  • 2After 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.
  • 3HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 6.