Dutch Slave Ship — 17th–18th C. Transatlantic Trade Model (15 in / 38 cm, Western Red Cedar)
Dutch Slave Ship — 17th–18th C. Transatlantic Trade Model (15 in / 38 cm, Western Red Cedar)
How big is it?
Length about 38 cm / 15.0 in, height about 30 cm. Drawn to scale; the model outline is a simplified shape.
Model details
- Size
- 15 in / 38 cm
- Materials
- Western red cedar, Brass, Linen sails
- Construction
- Plank-on-frame, built by hand
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Tall Ship Models - Admiral Line
- Item no.
- T402
A 15-inch handcrafted model of a Dutch transatlantic trading vessel of the 17th and 18th centuries — the type used in the Atlantic slave trade.
Built plank on frame in western red cedar, with the deep hull, high stern and armed merchantman's profile of a ship designed for long ocean passages with a valuable cargo and the guns to protect it.
Specification
- 15 in / 38 cm
- Plank-on-frame hull in western red cedar
- Three masts with hand-knotted standing and running rigging
- Hand-stitched linen sails
- Gun ports, deck fittings, ship's boat and rails
- Metal anchors and wooden rudder
- Solid wood base with engraved brass nameplate
- Fully assembled
Historical note
The Dutch West India Company and its successors carried roughly 550,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic between the 1590s and 1800s, operating from ports including Elmina on the Gold Coast and Curaçao in the Caribbean. The ships themselves were ordinary armed merchantmen; what made them instruments of atrocity was how they were fitted out below decks and what they were used to carry.
We list this model as a historical record. It suits an educational or museum setting rather than a purely decorative one.