There is a painting of the Hollandsche Tuin (or Hollandsche Tuyn) by Hendrick Vroom at the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam. The ship was four-masted and had high-sides, as had contemporary English ships. We seem to not have the dimensions for the Hollandsche Tuin, but it turns out that Ab Hoving, in his book about Nicolaes Witsen, has dimensions for very old Dutch ships:
Year Name Length Beam Hold Lasts Factor for lasts
1590 Vergulde Leeuw 90ft 23/24ft 10ft 75 lasts 276/288
1592 Tonijn 94ft 26ft 13ft 100/120 lasts 264/318
1592 Dolphijn 100ft 26.5ft 13.5/11.5ft 100/140 lasts 218/256/305/358
1593 Neptunus 102ft 33ft 13.5ft 250 lasts 181
1593 Valk 90ft 29ft 12ft 80 lasts 350
1598 Tijger 90ft 25ft 12ft 80 lasts 338
1601 Zilver Ster 104ft 25ft 10ft 130 lasts 200
Where I see factors that are too large, I suspect that the lasts are wrong. Factors such as 200 or 218 are reasonable. 338, 350, or 358 are not. If I were calculating, based on dimensions, I would say that the last factors should be as follows:
1590 Vergulde Leeuw 90ft 23/24ft 10ft 95/100 lasts
1592 Tonijn 94ft 26ft 13ft 150 lasts
1592 Dolphijn 100ft 26.5ft 13.5/11.5ft 160/140 lasts
1593 Neptunus 102ft 33ft 13.5ft 200 lasts
1593 Valk 90ft 29ft 12ft 140 lasts
1598 Tijger 90ft 25ft 12ft 120 lasts
1601 Zilver Ster 104ft 25ft 10ft 120 lasts
Where I see great deviations, I suspect that either there is at least one bad dimension, or that the last figure is faulty. The factor can fluctuate between 200 and 240, but outside that range either says that one of the factors that I mention is at work, or else the ship's form is very extreme. Lasts are a measure of volume, and the factor is trying to describe the form versus the box made by the length x beam x depth in hold.
Sources:
- Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933.
- A. J. Hoving, Nicolaes Witsens Scheeps-Bouw-Konst Open Gestelt, 1994.
