antique arms, armour & militaria - Thomas Del Mar

263
A VERY FINE GERMAN MANUFACTURER’S MODEL
CANNON BY ALFRED KRUPP PRESENTED TO KING
GEORGE I OF GREECE, DATED 1864
with tapering multi-stage steel barrel swelling at the
muzzle, cast with raised astragal and reinforcing bands,
engraved with the Greek crowned royal cypher between
entwined oak and olive branches on the first reinforce,
chiselled on top of the base-ring with the abbreviated word
for ‘Arsenal’ in Greek cyrillic, the date and with a golddamascened
cartouche between, and with a further cyrillic
inscription beneath, globular cascable, and a pair of
trunnions inscribed ‘1/5’ on on the left and ‘C/K.1748’ on
the right, on its original steel-mounted mahogany carriage,
with steel-shod spoked cambered wheels, fitted with an
ammunition case on each side, the bed with elevating
screw, signed ‘K.O.’ and with the date 1858 on the trail eye
bracket (cap-squares expertly replaced) and with its limber
en suite with the carriage, carrying a further pair of fitted
ammunition boxes, and with accurately detailed steel
fittings throughout
49.5cm; 19I in. barrel
138
263
The Krupp family arrived in Essen in 1587 and are recorded
thirty one years later making over one thousand barrels a
year at the start of the thirty years war. The family
continued to manufacture gun barrels of a high quality and
rose to international fame in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
During the 19th Century a very large proportion of ‘die
Firma's’ income was generated from other areas of the
steel industry including the manufacture of steel tyres for
trains. A considerable number of these were exported to
the United States and praised for their superior quality. The
income generated from this was able to subsidise the
cannon founding business that was an obsessive passion
for Alfred Krupp (1812-87).
George I of Greece ascended to the throne on 29th October
1863. The unrest of the years preceding this together with
the handing over of the Ionian Islands by the British in June
1864 gave a favourable start to his reign.
For an account of the Krupp family see W. Manchester,
1964.
£20000-30000