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ArticlesAn Anglo-Portuguese souvenirRuth Rhynas BrownThe Museu Historico Nacional ofBrazil in Rio da Janeiro has a finecollection of historic artillery, displayedin a very picturesque courtyard in theheart of the building. Among theinteresting pieces is an intriguingbronze gun, cast in London forPortuguese service. It is a 24-pounderof 5½ feet in length, weighing 11hundredweight 3 quarters and 14pounds, 1330 pounds in all. It followsthe general pattern of contemporaryEnglish guns with the elevating screwunder the cascable. It has the arms ofthe Kingdom of Portugal in a ratherrococo surround on the reinforce,elaborately fishy dolphins with longtails and the arms of the Marquis ofPombal as Count of Oeiras on thechase. It has the inscription R.GILPINFECIT.1766 along the basering, withW.WHITTINGTON stamped underneath.Portugal has a long tradition ofgunfounding, both in the homelands,centred round the Lisbon, and itsoverseas territories in Asia, Africa andBrazil. There are several othercannons in the Museum which werecast in the Lisbon arsenal byBartolomeu Da Costa in the 1760s.However, by the 18th century, Portugalbegan looking abroad to fulfil all itsdemands for bronze artillery. TheMuseum in Rio has a number of suchguns, including three beautifulspecimens by the Genoese gunfounderRocca and a pair of guns cast in Dutchfoundries. The gunfounders werebadly affected by the great earthquakeof 1755 which devastated Lisbon andits buildings and institutions. Attemptswere made to reinvigorate Portugal’sgunfounding industry with newtechnologies and personnel. CharlesDumouriez, a French officer sent on adiplomatic mission to the Portuguesecourt, commented unflatteringly onthe state of the artillery, describing thecannon as ‘ill made and clumsy’. Hethen went on to describe how ‘twoexcellent founders, brought up underthe famous Maritz’ were engaged ;‘but the prevailing prejudice againstforeigners has got the better of actualwant, and, in consequence of illtreatment, they have been obliged todesert from the service.’ He went on todescribe the state of the artillery train:‘There are no field pieces, nor anysmall cannon, to accompany theinfantry; which would be of thegreatest use in such a country asPortugal, where there ls a post atevery step’. He also noted that two ofthe three commanding officers wereBritish (Dumouriez 1797: 106).In this period, the prime ministerof Portugal was the Count of Oeiras ,later Marquis of Pombal. As a youngman he had been the envoy to theCourt of St James in London and thissame position was, in 1766, held byanother member of the de Mellofamily. Portugal and England had longbeen allies, as recently as during theSeven Years War between 1756 and1763. In addition to such military ties,the two countries had long tradinglinks as well. A complete train ofartillery – bronze guns, howitzers andmortars, with their carriages andammunition – were ordered inEngland from the Southwarkgunfounder, Richard Gilpin.In the mid-1760s there were onlytwo active gunfounders of bronzeordnance in England. Andrew Schalchin Woolwich was refusing to co-operatewith the Ordnance Board, leaving justWilliam Bowen and Richard Gilpin.Richard Gilpin of Stoney Street,Southwark, had supplied brass guns,mortars and howitzers to the Board ofOrdnance and the East India Companysince 1751. Within a few years hewould also cast prestigious guns forthe Ordnance intended for gifts for theBey of Morocco, and the young Princeof Wales (Brown 2002; 2004; 2010).Many of his guns have survived andcan be found in collections all roundthe world.The guns for Portugal were castthrough 1765 and 1766. Although theywere not an official gift from theBritish government, the Board ofOrdnance gave them some help andassistance, such as allowing them tobe proofed at Woolwich: ‘By theSurveyor General Ordered that theBrass ordnance Cast by Mr Gilpin forthe King of Portugal be proved atWoolwich on Tuesday next, and thatthe Proof Masters do attend , and allthe Persons concerned have Notice’(WO 47/66, 70v ;WO 51/232, 104r; WO51/232, 114v-5r). As well as the guns,the shot and shells provided byStephen Remnant were proofed at theRoyal Laboratory in Woolwich (WO47/67, 131r).In January 1766, De Mello, thePortuguese envoy, asked permission32 MAGAZINE ISSUE 10
ArticlesPortugal has a longtradition of gunfounding,both in the homelands,centred round theLisbon, and its overseasterritories in Asia, Africaand Brazil.for carriages to be provided for brassguns, howitzers and mortar beds andpaid from Ordnance funds. ThomasHartwell the Ordnance modeller wentto visit the carpenter and made somecomments in March. He surveyed thecarriages and mortar beds beingmade by Thomas Peace – ‘timber forthe most part good, but some timbercondemned for defects. Feels thatPeace’s men not up to the moredifficult pieces’ – fixing the howitzersto their carriages, and suggested acarpenter and a smith from the Towerbe sent, to be charged to thePortuguese. He was also concernedthat the mortar beds should not befinished till the wood became‘something dryer, otherwise theTimber will shrink from the woodwork,and become loose’. It was agreed thatthe guns and mortars would be takento the Tower for fitting (WO 47/67,149v, 150r).Have got this arranged, De Mellothen asked that the, ‘Arms of Portugalmay be engraved upon the guns in thesame manner as on those for HisMajesty which he will pay for’. Thiswas also agreed and the arms can beseen today and are very nicelymodelled and chastened indeed.The Comptroller of the RoyalLaboratory still had some questions.He needed to know whether the shellsand shot were to be packed in boxesand the tin cases to be filled with shotfirst before packing (WO 47/67, 170v-1r). In March 1766 the Portugueseenvoy replied that he ‘desires the tincases filled with their shot and fixed totheir wooden bottoms, but to have noISSUE 10 MAGAZINE 33
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