17th century Italian mortar?

fernando · 2nd May 2013, 02:09 PM

I would put it that it is more the certainty that the presence of a lip ensures that the thing is a standing up mortar (signal, celebration, powder test, you name it) than its absency meaning it is an horizontal stocked gonne.
When the lip is absent, that gives it the benefit of the doubt and we ( i for one) enjoy thinking it is a cannon, a more war like thing ... and off we go mounting it in a stock, giving it a cannon look.
I beleive matchcord has long been available, no lip needed.
The one you show here has a protuberance in the middle of its body, which doesn't fit well in a stock mount; so probably a mortar ?

2nd May 2013, 02:09 PM	#2
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	I would put it that it is more the certainty that the presence of a lip ensures that the thing is a standing up mortar (signal, celebration, powder test, you name it) than its absency meaning it is an horizontal stocked gonne. When the lip is absent, that gives it the benefit of the doubt and we ( i for one) enjoy thinking it is a cannon, a more war like thing ... and off we go mounting it in a stock, giving it a cannon look. I beleive matchcord has long been available, no lip needed. The one you show here has a protuberance in the middle of its body, which doesn't fit well in a stock mount; so probably a mortar ? Last edited by fernando; 2nd May 2013 at 02:21 PM.