Captured Ordnance

circle of Laurens Oxsen, 1667

After Java was brought entirely under Dutch rule during the Java War (1825–1830), the Dutch sought to gain control of the other Indonesian islands as well. Various military expeditions were mounted to force the rulers of these islands to recognize Dutch authority. These cannons were seized during those battles. One is an old Dutch East India Company cannon of 1667.

  • Artwork typecannon
  • Object numberNG-MC-1104
  • Physical characteristicsbronze

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Gun
    • Captured Ordnance

  • Object type

  • Object number

    NG-MC-1104

  • Description

    Bronzen voorlader, Europees type. De loop heeft een kransvormige monding, eerste, tweede en hoogste sieraadbanden, en banden bij de monding en vóór de hoogste sieraadband, en twee dunne en twee dikke kulasbanden. Op het tappengedeelte de tappen en twee dolfijnen; waar de dolfijnen op de loop zijn bevestigd, heeft de loop ruitvormige decoraties van nagelinkepingen. Het platte kulas is versierd met puntmotieven, de druif heeft een knopvorm. Het zundgat, omringd door een rechthoekige opstaande rand, heeft aan weerszijden een knop voor een zundgatdeksel. Vóór het zundgat een ovale cartouche met monogram van Amsterdamse kamer van de VOC, en de opschriften.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • on the breech ring: ‘432’
    • monogram, on the barrel: ‘A VOC’
    • inscription, on the barrel: ‘BATAVIA’
    • date, on the barrel: ‘1667’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    gun founder: circle of Laurens Oxsen, Batavia

  • Dating

    1667

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    bronze

Explanatory note

  • Buitgemaakt bij Djambische expeditie, augustus 1858.

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

  • Place

  • Period

    1858-08

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

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

Documentation

Persistent URL

Questions?

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Laurens Oxsen (circle of)

Gun

Batavia, 1667

Inscriptions

  • date, on the barrel:1667
  • monogram, on the barrel:A VOC
  • inscription, on the barrel:BATAVIA
  • on the breech ring:432

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-1104

Entry

Bronze muzzle-loading gun of a European type.

It has a wreath-shaped muzzle, muzzle astragal fillets, chase astragal fillets, second reinforcement mouldings, dolphins and trunnions, first reinforcement mouldings, vent astragal fillets, base mouldings, a flat breech base and a bud-shaped cascabel button. To each side of the vent, which is surrounded by a rectangular rim, a button on which a vent cover can be secured is positioned. On the first reinforcement an oval cartouche is depicted, with the monogram of the Amsterdam chamber of the Dutch East India Company and inscriptions. Where the dolphins are moulded, the gun is decorated with diamond-shaped motifs. The breech is decorated with point motifs.

This gun was captured during the Djambi expedition in August 1858. The mark ‘D’ mentioned in the inventory1J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1104. could not be found.

It is possible that the gun was manufactured in the circle of Laurens Oxsen, who, originally from Schleswig-Holstein, from 1656 onwards manufactured guns for the Dutch East India Company in Batavia.2E. Sint Nicolaas, ‘Drie “Indische kanonnen” en hun geschiedenis, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 40-57.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1104; E. Sint Nicolaas, ‘Drie “Indische kanonnen” en hun geschiedenis, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 40-57

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'circle of Laurens Oxsen, Gun, Batavia, 1667', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20018652

(accessed 5 november 2026 15:02:36 UTC+0).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1104.
  • 2E. Sint Nicolaas, ‘Drie “Indische kanonnen” en hun geschiedenis, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 40-57.