WILLIAM REX figurehead

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aukepalmhof
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Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

WILLIAM REX figurehead

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Feb 09, 2017 6:50 pm

The stamp set of the summer stamps 1962 of the Netherlands depict on the 12c+8c a figurehead, till so far from which ship it comes was not known, I found on the site of the Dutch Museum of Communicatie a photo after the stamp was designed. The photo shows a model most probably taken in the Rijksmusem at Amsterdam.

The figurehead comes from a ship model in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and this model shows the appearance of a Dutch warship in the late 17th century. The model was made on the Dockyard at Vlissingen (Flushing) for the Dutch Zeeland Admiralty for display in the council meeting room in Middelburg.
The model is not made after a real warship but it is a very large model with a length of at least 5 metres and a height of 4.5 metres.
The model was ordered for around 70 Flemish pounds a significant amount of money and made during the winter of 1697-1698 at the dockyard in Vlissingen.
Several shipbuilders and a sculptor for the decoration were used during the construction of the model.
The details are amazing, the carvings, the cannons and rigging are carried out with great care. On the bow is as figurehead a crowned lion, a reference to William III (1650-1702) who was from 1689 also King of England. This is not the only decoration that reefers to hem, on the stern is the St George’s Cross carried by William III surrounded four times by the monogram ‘RWR’ which stands for Reign William Rex.
The model is now best known as the WILLIAM REX, and still in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
A google search gives many hits on that name, which shows many photos of the model.

Netherland 1962 12c + 8c sg924, scott?
Source: various internet sites.
Attachments
1962 william rex.png
figurehead rijksmuseumobject-william-rex-1.jpg
figurehead rijksmuseumobject-william-rex-3.jpg
1962 figurehead.png

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