Model of a 20-gun corvette on a slipway

anonymous, anonymous, c. 1840 - c. 1849

This model shows the hull of a corvette – a small warship – under construction on a slipway. The vessel is positioned according to Dutch custom with the bow launching first. The slipway has been reproduced in great detail. The model ship even has tiny wheels on its keel so that it can move along the slipway.

  • Artwork typeship model, demonstration model, hull model
  • Object numberNG-MC-988
  • Dimensionsheight 39.6 cm x width 116 cm x depth 53.3 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass, glass and rope

anonymous, anonymous

Model of a 20-Gun Sloop of War on a Slipway

Netherlands, Denmark, c. 1840 - c. 1849

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, maart 2012: cleaned; revarnished

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-988

Entry

‘Bread-and-butter’ model of the hull of a sloop of war on a slipway.

The vessel is to be launched bow first, which is the usual Dutch way to launch a vessel. The model is fully detailed and has twenty-two gun ports, two of which are situated in the counter. Only one deck is indicated. The figurehead is a classical figure in running pose, the knees of the head are decorated with carvings. The stern has a round tuck, a hollow counter, a single-storey taffrail decorated with carvings of plants, a trophy and a shield with a rabbit and three bars. The model has no quarter galleries, but privies on the inside, in small cabins against the planking aft. Below the stern a straight, square-headed rudder is indicated. Deck fittings include single riding bitts, a support for spare spars, a pump, an entrance to the lower deck, glass skylights and gratings. The capstan is missing. All channels rigged with deadeyes are fitted to the model. The sheer rises towards both ends. One wale is indicated. The hull is S-bottomed. The slipway is complete in every detail. The ship model has rollers in the keel, with which it can actually move on the slipway.

The model represents a variation on the Danish way of launching a ship.

Scale unknown.

Literature

H.G. Jansen, ‘Over het van stapel loopen der schepen in Denemarken’, Verhandelingen en berigten betrekkelijk het zeewezen (1842), pp. 361-84 and pl.; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 988; F.H. Chapman, Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, Stockholm 1775 (facsimile New York 1967), pl. LXI, fig. 3

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous or anonymous, Model of a 20-Gun Sloop of War on a Slipway, or Denmark, c. 1840 - c. 1849', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316012

(accessed 6 December 2025 22:31:55).