Thank you, gentlemen, for remarking on this piece. Yes, Michael, you really did come through for me and I truly value your knowledge on these. I read your other thread from end to end, but didn't post this there until I knew it might be the real deal. I do hope the scholar you mentioned might have something to add as well.
Fernando- But of course I would need one of these if I am to take any ships in the Indies! Cap'n Mark
Nice find on the grenade launcher, Marcus! I've always been fascinated by the flintlock musket types with widened barrel.
Fernando- Small!? Are we comparing sizes here!?
The interesting thing about mine is that it is completely hollow, not like the thicker examples such as the size-ways viewed illustration of a small pocket amid the thick clay 'walls'. Although not eggshell thin, this piece seems made to shatter on impact. Although small, it would have held a similar amount of powder due to the open cavity. Perhaps it was only used to ignite flammable textiles? Distract an opponent with a small flash of powder? In Gilkerson, he mentions stink pots and smoke pots being made of breakable pottery, but unfortunately doesn't show any pics of such items. To date, I have only seen one verified stink pot from an Elizabethan wreck, complete with barnacles. It looked basically like a clay jar with small ahndles on either side, but was flat bottomed. I've seen the early stink pots and clay incendiaries from the Middle East dating to the Crusades, but they were also larger affairs of mostly gray clay.