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| Cannons |
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| Bronze cannons-all types.The Swivel gun-Lantaka-Rail gun-Mirem-Versas-all names for smaller cannon mounted on ships rails to repel boarders-or carried to top masts to fire down on enemies.These types of weapons have a long history.�T�he Spanish began manufacturing cannons in Manila-while the Portuguese began manufacturing cannon in foundries in Borneo(Brunei)during the mid 1500's,due to abundant tin and copper in the area.The Dutch soon displaced the Portuguese and started manufacturing in Sumatra and Batavia(Jakarta)during the VOC era(1601-1799).A few Spanish cannon have been unearthed in remote parts of Califonia of the early Spanish Manila design,illustrating how far they were transported.The Portuguese design have been recovered all over Indonesia and Malaysia-same with the Dutch pieces.And then with the departure of the major European powers,locals started manufacturing lantakas during the 1800's however these pieces are easily identified by cruder designs-usually no dolphins,no chaplets and more casting flaws. After aquiring a few pieces from a prominent collection in the States,I� made contacts with collectors in Borneo and Singapore.I found these pieces harder and harder to locate and with local Heritage laws in effect-very hard to ship out of the country.The locals can occasionally find one or two in a Dayak chieftans longhouse or find a land dig.I have been able to find much information from Sarawak Museum-Kuching about these pieces.Some info conflicts with the western "experts"-so Iam passing on aquired info as it is discovered(or translated)hard-due to the 23 different tribes of the island.I would like to hear from collectors and cannon enthusiasts-I do occasionally trade or sell off to make room for more. Pictures of your swivel guns or lantakas would be of interest to me as I do have resources in researching them. |
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Ornate Dutch Swivel guns -dolphins and crocidile� at vent-36 in long-ca. 1660 |
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Dutch ca.1660-Dolphin Front Sight of the 3 Dolphin Piece pictured below. |
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Dutch 3 Dolphin-Aft Section -Notice Fine Leaf Pattern,Ornate Dolphins,Crocidile,and Chaplets. |
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Note:Chaplets were iron rods used to center the bore during casting.When cooled the mold was broken open and rods sawn off-hence iron rust spots on a bronze bore.This method was used in all cannons manufactured before 1750.Drilling castings with bits did not occur until mid-late 1700's.This fool- proof way of dating cannon is used by museums-eg-later moneyguns have no chaplets. |
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Above-Unknown Sultanate's crest-recovered from river wreck Sarawak,Borneo. |
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The perfect 400 year old patina-land dug. |
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Email: |
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[email protected] |
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