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Name of Object:

Artillery piece – Half-cannon – Muzzleloader

Also known as:

Canhão de Bocarro – Bocarro cannon

Location:

Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Holding Museum:

Army Museum

Original Owner:

Portuguese State

Current Owner:

Museu Militar

Date of Object:

Fist Half of the 17th Century

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Manuel Tavares Bocarro (Unknown)

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Cast bronze

Dimensions:

Total length (from the outside) 3.62 m

Provenance:

Mozambique, 1866

Type of object:

Artillery

Period of activity:

17th century

Place of production:

Forged in Macao

Description:

Although the military armaments industry of India and China flourished more than it did in Europe in the early 15th century, developments in Europe took advantage later in the century – the Portuguese learning armament techniques. During the 16th and 17th centuries with their arrival in China, the Portuguese were able to profit from their ability to help the warring factions in the Chinese Empire. In Japan, the Shogun authorities learned about guns from the Portuguese in the 16th century.
This half-canon dates to the 17th-century. Cast in bronze, it has a caliber of 13.8 cm and a length of 3.62 m; it weighs over 3026 kg. It uses iron canon balls of 8.2 kg.
The object displays the coat of arms of the city of Macao in China, below which is a rampant lion with a Marquis' crown. Engraved in a frame is the following inscription: “ANT. TELES DE MENEZES Govºr DA INDIA A MANDOU FAZER NO ANO DE 1640” (“ANTONIO TELES DE MENEZES GOVERNOR OF INDIA ORDERED IT TO BE MADE IN 1640”).
Holding in its breech the name of the Caster “M[anu]el TAVARES BOCARRO”, as a personal touch, the cascable ending is in the shape of a lotus flower. Manuel Tavares Bocarro, son of Pedro Dias Bocarro also a gun founder, was the leading officer of the gun foundry of cannons in the Chunambeiro, Macao, during the mid-17th century. The cannons he produced were famous worldwide; two of them are in the Tower of London.

View Short Description

A bronze half-cannon muzzleloader from the first half of the 17th century, used to attack and defend fortresses.

How date and origin were established:

The piece exhibits the coat of arms of the city of Macao and holds an inscription engraved in a frame “ANT. TELES DE MENEZES Govºr DA INDIA A MANDOU FAZER NO ANO DE 1640” (“ANTONIO TELES DE MENEZES GOVERNOR OF INDIA ORDERED IT TO BE MADE IN 1640”).

How Object was obtained:

Recovered in Mozambique in 1866

Selected bibliography:

Guia da Artilharia Histórica, Lisbon, 1979.
Santos, N. V., “Manuel Bocarro o grande fundidor”, Boletim do Museu e centro de estudos marítimos de Macau, Macau, 1990, No.3, pp. 15–102.

Citation of this web page:

Museu Militar  "Artillery piece – Half-cannon – Muzzleloader" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;pt;Mus11_A;42;en

Prepared by: Museu Militar
Translation by: Conceição Marques
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: PT 45

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