…; collection Jochem Pietersz Asmus (1765-1837), Amsterdam, 1807;¹¹HNA 2.01.29.02 Dept. Marine, Aanhangsel I, inv. no. 20, La. F no. 2. 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

Object number: NG-MC-810

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

The model consists of a box with the operating mechanism at the base, mounted with two posts to which moving arms are attached. The main arm turns on an axle between the poles and has two wings at the ends, which can turn separately and have counterweights. A fourth arm moves only vertically along one of the posts, either protruding above it or remaining hidden behind it. The operating panel on one side of the box has three keys that show the positions of the arms above, the fourth arm is operated by a separate pulley just above the panel. The movements of the keys are transferred to the arms with drawbars and chains running on sheaves

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. 2. 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.

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. 810; 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; P. Charbon, ‘Les Chappes et la revolution française’, La Province du Maine 14 (1990), pp. 128-48; 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; R. Korving, ‘De optische telegraaf van Chappe’, Erfgoed van Industrie en Techniek 2 (1993), no. 1, pp. 2-11; C.C.P. van Romburgh, ‘De revolutionaire verreschrijver’, in H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, pp. 30-33; R. Korving and B. van der Herten, Een tijding met de snelheid des bliksems. De optische telegraaf in de Nederlanden (1800-1850), Alphen aan den Rijn 1997, pp. 11-34; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 128-31

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of an Optical Telegraph, France, 1792 - 1795', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315911