Model of the 58-gun East Indiaman Merkurius

anonymous

Rijksmuseum

Artwork details

Date:: 1747
Medium:: textile materials, iron (metal), rope, wood (plant material), brass (alloy), mica, polychromy
Dimensions:: 843 × 807 px
Museum record:: View original

Palette

Model of the 40-gun East Indiaman Vergelijking Amsterdam, 1780 wood, brass, iron, glass, rope, leather The administrators of the Naval Models Room not only commissioned new models, but also ‘improved’ existing ones. During the 19th century this model of an 18th- century East Indiaman was fitted with an emergency foremast and lightning conductors by J.P. Asmus. The Dutch East India Company had no ship called Vergelijking (Comparison) in its service. The name suggests that the model may have been intended to illustrate new ship-building techniques.