In fact i was adviced by Matchlock in the acquisition of some cannons, both hand an portable. It was also through his knowledge that i could date some of my earliest examples as from the XIV and XV centuries.
But if it is difficult to age these things, is not easier to know their original provenance; most of them were bought in an impersonal manner, from sellers who wouldn't provide their previous track. The best guess is to trust that their origin is that of the country from where we buy them; some from Spain, some from Germany, one from South America and others said to be simply 'European'. The only one i can be pretty sure of is origin was a böller that came from a local church.
I don't think there is any local literature on these devices, either böllers and gonnes. Rainer Daehnhardt has a few interesting ones in his collection, but wrote not treatise abouth this subject that i know of. He has a theory that the earliest Portuguese hand gonnes were used in the battle of Aljubarrota, but i don't think this is more than a theory. But one thing i learnt in our conversations is that upright examples may not only be signal or noise makers but were also used for bellicose purposes, like traps and so. Would have i doubted this assumption they were soon vanished when i found in the web a French device that was destined to perform such job.
.
|