Model of an Optical Telegraph

...; collection Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1765-1837), Amsterdam, 1807;¹¹HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 1. Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1837;²²After 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

ObjectNumber: NG-MC-811

Model of an optical telegraph, mounted on a square base.

The model consists of double-shored poles with an operating mechanism at the base and moving arms at the top. The main arm turns on an axle between the poles and has two wings attached to the ends, which can turn separately from one another. The operating mechanism mimics the movement of the arms and the movement is transferred by means of chains on the axles of the moving parts.

The model is first mentioned as part of the private collection of Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1755-1837) in 1807.³³HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 1. Claude Chappe’s (1763-1805) telegraphs were used in France from 1792 until the introduction of the electric telegraph in 1844. Between 1810 and 1813 there was a line between Paris and Amsterdam.

This model is a so-called ‘Milan configuration’ type; the operating mechanism and transfer of movement incorporates improvements of Chappe’s design, as suggested by Abraham-Louis Bréguet (1747-1823).

Scale unknown.

M.A. Chappe Sr, Histoire de la télégraphie, Au Mans 1840; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 811; C.F. Gijsberti Hodenpijl, ‘De aanlegging van den optischen telegraaf in ons land’, De navorscher 68 (1919), pp. 266-71; E.A.B.J. ten Brink and C.W.L. Schell, Geschiedenis van de Rijkstelegraaf 1852-1952, The Hague 1954; E.A.B.J. ten Brink, ‘De optische telegraaf van Claude Chappe en zijn toepassing in Nederland tijdens de inlijving’, Publicaties van het Genootschap voor Napoleontische Studiën 10 (1957), pp. 337-59; G. Hogesteeger, ‘Kijken in lijnen. Enige aantekeningen met betrekking tot de optische telegraaf in Nederland’, Studieblad PTT Telecom, Mei 1989, pp. 128-38; G. de Saint Denis, ‘Télégraphes et sémaphores en Europe du nord-ouest fin XVIIIe-début XIXème siècle’, in Bicentenaire du télégraphe Chappe. Colloque international des 13-14-15 Octobre 1993 (Fédération Nationale des Associations de personnel des Postes et Télécommunications pour la Recherche Historique) 1993, pp. 181-91

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of an Optical Telegraph, France, c. 1800 - c. 1807', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244625