Scale for Navigation

Rasmus Dekker (mentioned on object), 1791

Houten schaal en twee documenten (NG-MC-853-2 & 3). De schaal is een platte houten lat met aan de ene zijde een aantal schaalindelingen en aan de andere een aantal tabellen en twee noniussen. Deze schaal was bedoeld om de gewone streektafels voor het oplossen van navigatievraagstukken te vervangen. De handgeschreven octrooiaanvraag is gericht aan stadhouder Willem V en gesigneerd door Rasmus Dekker.

  • Artwork typenavigational instrument
  • Object numberNG-MC-853-1
  • Dimensionsheight 0.4 cm (scale) x width 38.9 cm x depth 7.8 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood and paper

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Scale for Navigation

Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1791

Inscriptions

  • inscription, on the scale:R DEKKER
  • label:Eene schaal op palmhout dienende in plaatse van de gewoone tabellen, om de routen der schepen te berekenen gemaakt door Rasmus Dekker collegie-meester te Amsterdam en geapporbeert van den ... Admiraal van Kinsbergen. 28 July 1791

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-853-1

Entry

Wooden scale and two documents (NG-MC-853-2 and NG-MC-853-3).

The scale is a simple wooden ruler with on one side a number of different scales, and on the other a number of tables and two verniers.

The scale worked as a tidal computer, meant to replace the printed tables to solve computations in navigation. The handwritten patent application is addressed to stadholder Willem V and was signed by Rasmus Dekker. The handwritten letter of recommendation is also addressed to Willem V and was signed by Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen (1735-1819), dated 28 July 1791.

Dekker repeatedly tried to sell his inventions to the Dutch and French governments between 1791 and 1815, but was turned down on each occasion. They were tested by Hendrik Willem Lantsheer in 1810 and a number of instruments were bought for further testing in 1814, but in 1817 the Navy definitively declared Dekker’s inventions unsuitable for the service.

Literature

J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 853; G. Doorman, Het Nederlandsch octrooiwezen en de techniek der 19de eeuw, The Hague 1947, 1801, p. 94; C.A. Davids, Zeewezen en wetenschap. De wetenschap en de ontwikkeling van de navigatietechniek in Nederland tussen 1585 en 1815, Amsterdam/Dieren 1985, pp. 247-50

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Rasmus Dekker, Scale for Navigation, Amsterdam, 1791', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20054003

(accessed 10 December 2025 21:18:43).