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LOT 0283
Medieval Iron Hand Cannon Collection
15TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/4 - 4 3/4 in. (5.6 kg total. 9.5-12 cm).
Each comprising a touch hole to base. [3]
ProvenanceAcquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
See Funcken, L. & Funcken F., Le costume, l'armure et les armes au temps de la chevalerie, de huitieme au quinzieme siecle, Tournai,1977, pp.66-69, for reconstruction of how such hand cannons were used.
FootnotesAt the beginning of the 14th century, among the infantry troops of the Western Middle Ages, developed the use of manual cannons (such as the Italian schioppetti, spingarde, and the German Fusstbusse). The new weapon had, compared to the bow and the crossbow, the advantage of not needing any particular care, of being manufactured more quickly and of being cheaper.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Group
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
The tanged trio with leaf-shaped heads and raised midrib to both faces. 112 grams total, 13.7-15.3 cm
Ex private collection, 1980s. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s. -
Post Medieval Iron Sword Group
18th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Comprising military and civilian weapons: short rapier; basket hilted sword; sabre seemingly with scabbard; rapier blade. 3.45 kg total, 62-100 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The two sabres, with the particular hilt and steel scabbard, seems to have affinities with Hungarian sabres of about 1837-1838, destined to staff and senior officers of the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom Hussars. At the end of the 1830s, the Austrian military leaders introduced a new type of sabre for the Hussar officers, while the 1837 infantry officer sabre was standardised. -
Post Medieval Iron Pike Collection
16th-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Comprising three weapons: a 'ronca contadina' (peasant scythed staff weapon, known as forest bill) made of trunco-conical tubular gorbia with tapering iron shaft, inclined to the right with respect to the axis of the weapon, ending in a bill; an alabarda-sergentina, iron blade halberd with central rib, two axe-heads, one convex one concave; an alghiero, guisarme with tapering pointed iron shaft of rectangular section, furnished with a side-bill; all three mounted upon wooden velvet-covered shafts. 6.3 kg total, 2.26-2.34 m
Ex Christie's, Holland, circa 2010. East Anglian private collection.
Certainly the most interesting of the three weapons is the peasant roncone. The hooked part of the weapon could be used to hook or cut things, but also for severing a horse's hocks causing both horse and rider to fall.
