A model of a late 18th century Merchantman late 18th century

Acquired by the present owner at Sotheby's Mak van Waay B.V.

Oktober, 28th 1975 as lot 264.

The present model measures overall approximately 135 cm. and has a height of approximately 110 cm. The hull measures from the prow to the aft 92 cm., the width is 25 cm; the lower deck to the keel shows a depth of 9 cm., thus this model represents a ship that would have been 115 feet or 32.5 meters long. Considering the scale of 1:36, it is possible to attribute the ship to the southern of the Netherlands where the Rhenish foot of 12 inches was in use up until the French period. One inch or 2.6 cm. of the present model equals three Rhenish feet or 94 cm.

The model shows a double-deck merchant vessel where the lowest deck was intended for the storage of the valuable load rather than the artillery. The construction of the model is well executed. It was skilfully planked and supplied with gun-, row-, and ventilation-ports. Even the rigging was carefully observed. The figural decoration, of reasonable quality, comprises a lion that parades the galleon, the stern was adorned by human figures, or rather ‘savages’, flanking the windows, thus indicating that the ship was built to be used for the slave trade, a profitable business in particular for the province Zeeland, which again with tally with the employment of the Rhenish foot.