Looking for Hand-Cannon Info

Hello everyone,

New to this forum and was hoping for a little help?

I was hoping if someone can please help me locate the original source for the Chinese hand-cannon seen in the black & white illustration below? If this original source cannot me located, can someone please provide information on these particular period hand-cannon?





I ask for this info, because all that seems to be out there (that I can find any way) are 19th/20th C. replica (as seen below) of these hand-cannon being misidentified as original period cannon.




Can someone please help?

Looking forward to your replies.

Kind regards,
JoJo

JoJo that brass hand cannon is quite small, maybe 6" overall max. A very poor casting, porous, thin, with voids and inconsistent. Bannerman's sold them and Dixie Gun Works had them for years. I think I paid about $8 for mine back in the 70's. I had thought of cutting a section of barrel,breeching it, epoxying it in and drilling a touchhole but it really isn't worth the effort and I have no idea what a stock for one would look like. Mine has served as an excellent paperweight for decades. If I recall a Bannerman's catalog from well before WW2 stated that their copy was from an original but that statement is worth very little.

Thank you so much for your reply.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. In my research, I've seen many of these same poor cast "replica" of an original being misrepresented and sold as original period pieces......and they are not!

The hand-cannon within the black & white image that I posted appears to be from a reference book and does appear to be an original period piece.

This is what I'm striving to find and hoping you all can please help me with........obtaining information on the original period cannon.

An auction sold this piece...

...for $375 and gave this description:

"Chinese bronze hand cannon, 1500s-1600s. 254 grams, 4-1/2" long. A forerunner of the handgun, the hand cannon was widely used in China from the 13th century onward and later throughout Europe in the 14th century until at least the 1560s, and now is rarely seen outside museums. It was hand-held, without lock, and fired without a fuse. Cast bronze, with floral decorations on the sides, in very good condition with greenish brown patina from age. Purchased circa 1940s from Francis Bannerman's Sons, a well-known military store in New York City. With photo-certificate."

The above is 100% misinformation as it relates to that poorly cast replica. But I assume part of this auction's description is accurate relating to the original period hand-cannons?

Hoping you all can help?

Regards,
Jo

Can anyone help? I surely would appreciated it.

Kind regards

After much time researching, it appears I was able to find the original source of the black & white illustration. From a 1907 Bannerman's catalog, page 61, upper left-hand corner.