Model of the Mortar Bed of a Bomb Sloop c. 1842 - 1847

This is a cross-section model of a mortar bed of a bomb sloop, made by Rijkswerf Rotterdam. Shipyard models like this one served multiple purposes. As a demonstration of naval power and technological prowess, they were symbols of the state. At the same time, these models were used for planning and design, and for training shipbuilders. Naval power played a significant role in shaping colonial expansion, and in global trade networks including the movement of enslaved people. Consider the labor of both enslaved people and paid workers that contributed to the materials used for these ships, from the wood, to the textiles for the sails. The model might be beautiful, but it also represents the violence of the world it helped to create. By leaving the interior visible, Rijkswerf Rotterdam invites us to look more closely at the relationship between aesthetics and the social realities that underpin them.