Military drawing ca 1771 | Kanon – Le Siffleur: Piece légère du calibre de 8 pour le service de campagne. [France, probably Metz or Strasbourg, ca. 1764–1771].
Artillery engineering on paper: two large 18th-century technical drawings for an 8-pounder field cannon named Le Sifleur, showing the gun in section and its carriage in meticulous detail.
Two large original technical drawings, each approximately 35 × 45 cm, executed in pen and ink with grey wash and watercolour on laid paper, depicting a French light 8-pounder field gun and its corresponding gun carriage.
The first sheet is headed “Piece Legere du calibre de 8. pour le Service de Campagne” and shows the bronze cannon both in longitudinal section and in side elevation. The barrel is carefully dimensioned and accompanied by scales indicating the calibre of the piece and the diameter of the cannonball. The exterior view shows the handles, trunnions and decorative elements of the gun. The barrel bears the name “Le Sifleur” [Le Siffleur] and, near the breech, a large crowned ornamental monogram.
The second sheet gives detailed side and plan views of the wooden gun carriage, including its iron fittings, bolts, brackets and other constructional elements. Together, the two drawings provide a remarkably complete technical representation of both gun and carriage.
The drawings can be closely associated with the reform of French field artillery undertaken by Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (1715–1789). During the 1760s Gribeauval introduced a standardized system of lighter and more mobile field artillery, centred on 4-, 8- and 12-pounder guns. A surviving series entitled Collection Complete de la Nouvelle Artillerie Construite Dans Les Arceneaux de Metz et Strasbourg par Messieurs De Muy et De Gribeauval, dating from approximately 1764–1771, likewise includes a “Piece Legere de Campagne, Calibre de 8”.
The exceptional scale and finish of these drawings, together with the detailed sectional representation, measurements, named cannon and separate study of its carriage, suggest that they were produced within a professional military, arsenal or engineering context rather than as later illustrative copies.
Some light staining, handling marks and minor marginal wear, otherwise well preserved.
[NL] Mooie grote tekeningen, M6767. Twee grote originele technische tekeningen, ieder ca. 35 × 45 cm, in pen, inkt en aquarel, betreffende een Frans licht 8-ponds veldkanon en het bijbehorende affuit. De eerste toont de bronzen geschutsloop in lengtedoorsnede en zijaanzicht, voorzien van maatvoering, schaalverdeling en technische aanduidingen. Op de loop staat de naam “Le Sifleur” [Le Siffleur] en bij het kulas een groot gekroond monogram.
De tekening van het kanon komt zeer sterk overeen met een gedocumenteerde Franse ontwerptekening van het Gribeauval-stelsel. Er bestaat een “Collection Complete de la Nouvelle Artillerie Construite Dans Les Arceneaux de Metz et Strasbourg par Messieurs De Muy et De Gribeauval”, vervaardigd tussen 1764 en 1771. Daarin is plaat 6 expliciet beschreven als “Piece Legere de Campagne, Calibre de 8”.
Ook het affuit past bij het Gribeauval-systeem: lange houten flasques met uitgebreid ijzerbeslag en de kenmerkende constructie die bedoeld was om een relatief licht en mobiel veldgeschut te verkrijgen. De hervormingen van Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval waren juist gericht op grotere mobiliteit en standaardisering van de Franse veldartillerie.
SKU: 14239
€ 907,50(€ 750,00
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