Model of the 32-gun frigate Euridice

's Lands Werf Rotterdam, 1802

This model was used as an instructional aid at the Naval Institute in Rotterdam. Students were required to name and know how to operate and handle the ship’s various parts and rigging. This detailed model provides a fine impression of Dutch naval ships in the early 19th century. It is a copy of the Euridice, which saw service from 1802 to 1847.

  • Artwork typeship model, instruction model, fully rigged model
  • Object numberNG-MC-663
  • Dimensionsheight 230 cm x length 280 cm x width 106 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass, copper, iron, rope, textile and paint

Stories

Warship

Learning in miniature

Model of the 32-gun frigate Euridice

's Lands Werf Rotterdam

Model of a 32-Gun Frigate

Rotterdam, 1802

Inscriptions

  • inscription, on the stern:EURIDICE. 1802.

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, 1992: rerigged
  • Ab Hoving, december 2006: missing parts reconstructed; cleaned; retouched

Provenance

…; Instituut der Marine (Naval Institute) Fijenoord, Rotterdam;1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 663. collection Mr J.F.L. Schröder, Utrecht;2Ibid. transferred to the Rijkswerf (Navy dockyard) Amsterdam;3Ibid. Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague; transferred to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-663

Entry

Polychromed and rigged wooden block model of a three-masted ship, mounted on a stand.

The model has twenty-six guns positioned on the main deck, with another ten gun emplacements on the open gun deck. A yellow band highlights the main battery. The lower deck has twelve oar-ports with rigols on each side. The model has a lower deck, a main deck, a closed forecastle and quarterdeck with gangways. The figurehead is of a standing woman with raised arms, the beakhead is decorated with carvings and has six seats of ease. The stern has a round tuck, a hollow counter with two gun ports, a single-storey taffrail with carvings of foliage and mythological figures. The single-storey quarter galleries are decorated with carvings of trophies. Below the stern is a straight, square-headed rudder with afterpieces, a steering wheel is fitted on the quarterdeck forward of the mizzen mast. The model is fitted with two anchors, double riding bitts, two capstans, two pumps and a ship’s bell. The railing has hammock nettings. The sheer is almost flat, the model has two wales and a sheer rail. The hull has an S-shape and below the waterline it is sheathed with copper. The main and mizzen channels are continuous. The model is rigged on three masts without sails.

This model was an instruction model used by the Naval Institute at Fijenoord (Rotterdam). Mr. J.F.L. Schröder, Professor of mathematics in Utrecht, and former Director of the Naval Institute, took care of it for a while, after which it was transferred to the model collection of the Amsterdam Navy dockyard by Captain A.A. Bolken.4J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 663.

The 32-gun frigate Euridice, 145 feet long, was designed by Pieter Glavimans (1755-1820) and built in Rotterdam by Pieter Glavimans Jansz (1768-1850). Euridice was the first vessel to be docked in the dry dock at Hellevoetsluis. It served in the Mediterranean and both the Dutch East and West Indies, took part in the Boni expeditions (1824 and 1825) and the bombardment of Antwerp (1830). The ship served as a receiving ship in 1842 and was sold for breaking up in 1847.5A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 9.

Scale (derived) approx. 1:25.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 663; A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 9

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, ''s Lands Werf Rotterdam, Model of a 32-Gun Frigate, Rotterdam, 1802', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315856

(accessed 6 December 2025 20:38:09).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 663.
  • 2Ibid.
  • 3Ibid.
  • 4J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 663.
  • 5A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 9.