Dutch model cannons 1761

cannonmn · 15th January 2012, 11:31 AM

The two cannons shown in the slideshow are about 20 in. long and weigh about 20 lbs. One is a bit lighter and slimmer than the other. Peter Seest was the head of the Amsterdam town foundry when these were cast. One of his biggest customers was the Dutch East India Company. As far as I know he didn't cast any full-sized cannons for the VOC in 1761, because none have been found with that date. He was very busy from 1764 on because many cannons of his with such dates on them are known. In fact I'm guessing many dozens of bronze swivels with his name survive, so his total output may have been many hundreds or more. VOC used swivels of 1/2, 3/4, and 1 pounder caliber but I haven't checked to see if Seest cast all 3 sizes or not.

These two, as far as I can tell, are the only known cannon models by Peter Seest. The "ownership" mark is normally on the breech of the gun, and these have an "OH" monogram in that area. My research on the VOC revealed that their headquarters was a large building in Amsterdam known as the East India House, or in Dutch something like "Ostindische Huis." The "OH" monogram on the breech apparently indicates that these cannons were once the property of the VOC headquarters. Seest may have cast them as salesman's samples to give te VOC officials various models to choose from, but I'm only guessing now. I don't know why the heavier model (marked B in the data table in the slideshow) has the Amsterdam town mark (proofmark) on the breech and the lighter one does not.

Use password "attack" to view slideshow.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...view=slideshow

fernando · 15th January 2012, 01:19 PM

Photobucket stuff non adviced in this forum.
Please edit thread soonnest possible, by replacing the Web host with direct pictures upload.
Thanks.

cannonmn · 15th January 2012, 05:21 PM

Will do. My photohost is not functioning correctly now but will check periodically and post the photos as soon as that site is working again.

cannonmn · 15th January 2012, 05:50 PM

Found it was operator (me) error! A detailed chart of dimensions and weights follows the ten (10) model photos.

fernando · 15th January 2012, 05:53 PM

Well done

cannonmn · 15th January 2012, 05:59 PM

Model "A"

Model "B"

cannonmn · 15th January 2012, 06:16 PM

The best book in existence on Dutch cannons (perhaps one of the only ones?) is THE VISSER COLLECTION by Rudi Roth. The late Henk Visser was a hugely wealthy arms dealer from the Netherlands who accumulated one of the world's largest private arms collections, including cannons. He preferred Dutch cannons, and one purchase from I think Indonesia, he got a warehouse full of VOC ordnance, I think over 100 pieces, mostly various sizes of swivel guns. The book depicts all of the non-duplicate Dutch cannons and lists the remainder, with detailed tabulations of measurements, etc. Roth has further classified them by type and subtype, much of which it appears he had to reconstruct from archival documents. I think due to his book, Dutch ordnance has gone from being "least understood" of the world's ordnance to now among the best understood. Roth is a talented draftsman and included in the book full-page, fully-dimensioned drawings of each non-duplicate cannon in the Visser collection.
--------------------------------
The Visser Collection: Ordnance: cannon, mortars, swivel-guns, muzzle- and breech-loaders
Volume 2 of The Visser Collection: Arms of the Netherlands in the Collection of H.L. Visser, J. P. Puype
Authors J. P. Puype, R. Roth
Publisher Waanders Publishers, 1996
ISBN 9040098816, 9789040098819

15th January 2012, 11:31 AM	#1
cannonmn Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 161	Dutch model cannons 1761 The two cannons shown in the slideshow are about 20 in. long and weigh about 20 lbs. One is a bit lighter and slimmer than the other. Peter Seest was the head of the Amsterdam town foundry when these were cast. One of his biggest customers was the Dutch East India Company. As far as I know he didn't cast any full-sized cannons for the VOC in 1761, because none have been found with that date. He was very busy from 1764 on because many cannons of his with such dates on them are known. In fact I'm guessing many dozens of bronze swivels with his name survive, so his total output may have been many hundreds or more. VOC used swivels of 1/2, 3/4, and 1 pounder caliber but I haven't checked to see if Seest cast all 3 sizes or not. These two, as far as I can tell, are the only known cannon models by Peter Seest. The "ownership" mark is normally on the breech of the gun, and these have an "OH" monogram in that area. My research on the VOC revealed that their headquarters was a large building in Amsterdam known as the East India House, or in Dutch something like "Ostindische Huis." The "OH" monogram on the breech apparently indicates that these cannons were once the property of the VOC headquarters. Seest may have cast them as salesman's samples to give te VOC officials various models to choose from, but I'm only guessing now. I don't know why the heavier model (marked B in the data table in the slideshow) has the Amsterdam town mark (proofmark) on the breech and the lighter one does not. Use password "attack" to view slideshow. http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...view=slideshow

15th January 2012, 05:50 PM	#4
cannonmn Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 161	Found it was operator (me) error! A detailed chart of dimensions and weights follows the ten (10) model photos. Last edited by cannonmn; 15th January 2012 at 06:02 PM.

15th January 2012, 06:16 PM	#7
cannonmn Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 161	The best book in existence on Dutch cannons (perhaps one of the only ones?) is THE VISSER COLLECTION by Rudi Roth. The late Henk Visser was a hugely wealthy arms dealer from the Netherlands who accumulated one of the world's largest private arms collections, including cannons. He preferred Dutch cannons, and one purchase from I think Indonesia, he got a warehouse full of VOC ordnance, I think over 100 pieces, mostly various sizes of swivel guns. The book depicts all of the non-duplicate Dutch cannons and lists the remainder, with detailed tabulations of measurements, etc. Roth has further classified them by type and subtype, much of which it appears he had to reconstruct from archival documents. I think due to his book, Dutch ordnance has gone from being "least understood" of the world's ordnance to now among the best understood. Roth is a talented draftsman and included in the book full-page, fully-dimensioned drawings of each non-duplicate cannon in the Visser collection. -------------------------------- The Visser Collection: Ordnance: cannon, mortars, swivel-guns, muzzle- and breech-loaders Volume 2 of The Visser Collection: Arms of the Netherlands in the Collection of H.L. Visser, J. P. Puype Authors J. P. Puype, R. Roth Publisher Waanders Publishers, 1996 ISBN 9040098816, 9789040098819 Last edited by cannonmn; 15th January 2012 at 09:21 PM.

15th January 2012, 01:19 PM	#2
fernando Lead Moderator European Armoury Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Photobucket stuff non adviced in this forum. Please edit thread soonnest possible, by replacing the Web host with direct pictures upload. Thanks.

15th January 2012, 05:21 PM	#3
cannonmn Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 161	Will do. My photohost is not functioning correctly now but will check periodically and post the photos as soon as that site is working again.

15th January 2012, 05:53 PM	#5
fernando Lead Moderator European Armoury Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Well done

15th January 2012, 05:59 PM	#6
cannonmn Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 161	Model "A" Model "B"