Nick Cannon
Pilgrim
Hi All,
I recently picked up this small (40" total length from back of carriage to tip of cannon) cannon off of Facebook marketplace. Despite the seller claiming it as original, real, 1600s French (despite a clear Polish coat of arms), but not really knowing anything, it was priced less than I'd expect a replica. I was lucky to spot it right after posted and was lucky enough to get it. What I'm trying to figure out is actually is. The seller stated that some rednecks were fooling around firing it and blew the trunnions off of it so they drilled it and put a pipe through the center, but I see no evidence of damage or amateur drilling; looks like it may have been made with a hole running right through the bore. I also couldn't spot a touch hole, but there's a decent amount of oxidation. Wouldn't surprise me if under one of those spots was a tiny touch hole. They did have some unspent charges that rattled out when I pulled the trunnion/axle, but I can't stress enough the seller was a bit...off.
Thoughts on what this might be? Given the details above and the overall poor casting quality of the cannon I'm guessing it's got to be a replica, right? Looking at the carriage and methods of manufacture though, I would think it's probably a replica of a 1600's(?) cannon made in the 1800s? Any idea if this would have been a scaled-down version of a larger cannon, or just a really large signal cannon or some form of Robinet?
Any info at all is greatly appreciated. I really like this little thing and want to know what other directions to go in figuring it out.
Cannon itself is about 23" long with a 1" ID.
As noted the complete assembly with carriage is 40"
Wheels are 12" diameter, width is 12".
Thanks in advance!
I recently picked up this small (40" total length from back of carriage to tip of cannon) cannon off of Facebook marketplace. Despite the seller claiming it as original, real, 1600s French (despite a clear Polish coat of arms), but not really knowing anything, it was priced less than I'd expect a replica. I was lucky to spot it right after posted and was lucky enough to get it. What I'm trying to figure out is actually is. The seller stated that some rednecks were fooling around firing it and blew the trunnions off of it so they drilled it and put a pipe through the center, but I see no evidence of damage or amateur drilling; looks like it may have been made with a hole running right through the bore. I also couldn't spot a touch hole, but there's a decent amount of oxidation. Wouldn't surprise me if under one of those spots was a tiny touch hole. They did have some unspent charges that rattled out when I pulled the trunnion/axle, but I can't stress enough the seller was a bit...off.
Thoughts on what this might be? Given the details above and the overall poor casting quality of the cannon I'm guessing it's got to be a replica, right? Looking at the carriage and methods of manufacture though, I would think it's probably a replica of a 1600's(?) cannon made in the 1800s? Any idea if this would have been a scaled-down version of a larger cannon, or just a really large signal cannon or some form of Robinet?
Any info at all is greatly appreciated. I really like this little thing and want to know what other directions to go in figuring it out.
Cannon itself is about 23" long with a 1" ID.
As noted the complete assembly with carriage is 40"
Wheels are 12" diameter, width is 12".
Thanks in advance!
