LUSO-CINGALEZE MATCHLOKS

fernando · 3rd May 2007, 10:35 PM

Hi Philip,
E-mail already sent.
Also some pages of Espingarda Feiticeira to Ward, once he hasn't got this book .

Yes, Lantakas are fun. The so called cannon money.
Just look at these two miniatures. They are functional, by the way, although they measure no more than 22- 24 centimeters. The one barreled specimen was made in Malaca, or somewhere in today's Indonesia, around the XVIII century.
The three barreled one, was intentionally to be worth triple money currency. Made in Siam, around the XVII-XVIII century. Very rare. Only one spotted in thirty years.
fernando

Philip · 4th May 2007, 07:05 AM

Thanks, Fernando, for the mini cannon pictures. I am most amused by the small zoomorphic cannons, usually in the form of crocodiles, tigers, and bulls and with wheels attached, which were reportedly made in Brunei. Gardner, in his KERIS AND OTHER MALAY WEAPONS, shows a couple of these and they are featured in some museum publications from Indonesia and Brunei as well. A peculiar subtype is the bull or ox, with the cannon barrel on the back and firing backwards, over the tail. Gardner shows a rare example with an internal barrel, the muzzle emerging at the bull's buttocks!

By the way, for some detailed historical background on Portuguese breechloading cannon and their intro into China in 1523, see Joseph Needham's SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN CHINA, Vol. 5, Part 7 (Cambridge University, 1986), pp 369ff. There is a photo of a rare breechloading swivel of Portuguese design, made in Africa (possibly Mocambique?), formerly in the Tower of London. Of interest in that photo is the exaggerated, flaring muzzle of the barrel which carries over into the design of lantakas of Malaya.

There are also period woodcuts showing the Chinese enthusiasm for the breechloading concept ("folangji", or Frankish machine), resulting in some rather large guns for land use. The book also has a discussion with documentation on the arrival of the Luso-Cingalese musket in China before its introduction to Japan.

3rd May 2007, 10:35 PM	#1
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Hi Philip, E-mail already sent. Also some pages of Espingarda Feiticeira to Ward, once he hasn't got this book . Yes, Lantakas are fun. The so called cannon money. Just look at these two miniatures. They are functional, by the way, although they measure no more than 22- 24 centimeters. The one barreled specimen was made in Malaca, or somewhere in today's Indonesia, around the XVIII century. The three barreled one, was intentionally to be worth triple money currency. Made in Siam, around the XVII-XVIII century. Very rare. Only one spotted in thirty years. fernando Attached Images

4th May 2007, 07:05 AM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Thanks, Fernando, for the mini cannon pictures. I am most amused by the small zoomorphic cannons, usually in the form of crocodiles, tigers, and bulls and with wheels attached, which were reportedly made in Brunei. Gardner, in his KERIS AND OTHER MALAY WEAPONS, shows a couple of these and they are featured in some museum publications from Indonesia and Brunei as well. A peculiar subtype is the bull or ox, with the cannon barrel on the back and firing backwards, over the tail. Gardner shows a rare example with an internal barrel, the muzzle emerging at the bull's buttocks! By the way, for some detailed historical background on Portuguese breechloading cannon and their intro into China in 1523, see Joseph Needham's SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN CHINA, Vol. 5, Part 7 (Cambridge University, 1986), pp 369ff. There is a photo of a rare breechloading swivel of Portuguese design, made in Africa (possibly Mocambique?), formerly in the Tower of London. Of interest in that photo is the exaggerated, flaring muzzle of the barrel which carries over into the design of lantakas of Malaya. There are also period woodcuts showing the Chinese enthusiasm for the breechloading concept ("folangji", or Frankish machine), resulting in some rather large guns for land use. The book also has a discussion with documentation on the arrival of the Luso-Cingalese musket in China before its introduction to Japan.