Patent Application

Rasmus Dekker (signed by artist), 1791

Octrooiaanvraag bij het model van een schaal voor navigatiedoeleinden (NG-MC-853-1). De handgeschreven aanvraag is gericht aan stadhouder Willem V en gesigneerd door Rasmus Dekker.

  • Artwork typeletter
  • Object numberNG-MC-853-2
  • Dimensionsheight 20.1 cm (patent application) x width 15.9 cm
  • Physical characteristicspaper

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Patent Application

  • Object type

  • Object number

    NG-MC-853-2

  • Description

    Octrooiaanvraag bij het model van een schaal voor navigatiedoeleinden (NG-MC-853-1). De handgeschreven aanvraag is gericht aan stadhouder Willem V en gesigneerd door Rasmus Dekker.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    date

Creation

  • Creation

    writer (clerical worker): Rasmus Dekker (signed by artist), Amsterdam

  • Dating

    1791

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    paper

  • Dimensions

    height 20.1 cm (patent application) x width 15.9 cm

Explanatory note

  • Dekker heeft tussen 1791 en 1815 herhaalde pogingen ondernomen om zijn uitvindingen bij de (Nederlandse en Franse) overheid te slijten, maar werd steeds afgewezen. De notitie zat als een wikkel om het object heen.

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

  • Period

    1791 - 1817

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

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

Documentation

Related objects

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  • Related

Persistent URL

Questions?

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Rasmus Dekker

Amsterdam, 1791

Inscriptions

  • date

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-853-2

Entry

Wooden scale (NG-MC-853-1) 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.

Citation

(accessed 28 oktober 2026 17:21:14 UTC+0).