Flint gunlock for a 12-pounder cannon on a wooden breech

Rijkswerf Vlissingen, Brignol (mentioned on object), c. 1801

Cannon were traditionally fired using a lighted fuse, a method that always entailed a certain delay. Replacing the fuse with a flintlock enabled the cannon to fire imme-diately. From 1810, the Dutch Navy introduced flintlock mechanisms on cannon, known as gunlocks. The wooden dummy (the breech) was intended to show the gunmaker the exact position of the flintlock.

  • Artwork typeflintlock
  • Object numberNG-MC-698
  • Dimensionsheight 22.3 cm x width 49 cm x depth 40.2 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbrass, iron, wood and rope

Rijkswerf Vlissingen, Brignol

Gunlock (Flintlock) on a Dummy Breech of a 12-Pounder Cannon

Flushing, Paris, 1820

Inscriptions

  • inscription, on the breech:KORT KANON à 12 lb / NATUURLYKE GROOTTE.
  • inscription, on the lock:Brignol à Paris / an 12; VI
  • mark, on the lock: various marks

Provenance

...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-698

Entry

Right-handed gunlock (flintlock) mounted on a dummy breech of a 12-pounder gun.

The lock has a brass box with iron mechanism, trigger, cock, pan cover and tail bolt with wing nut. The upper jaw of the cock is missing. The lock is fastened with the tail bolt going through the base ring. The pan has a priming pan extension.

Flintlocks for cannon were introduced to the Dutch Navy after 1810. Models of this kind were sent to Liège, in order to pass on the correct measurements for the vent patch before casting the cannon.

Literature

J.N. Calten, Leiddraad bij het onderrigt in de zee-artillerie, Delft 1832, p. 339, pl. X; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 698

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Rijkswerf Vlissingen and Brignol, Gunlock (Flintlock) on a Dummy Breech of a 12-Pounder Cannon, , c. 1801', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200315876

(accessed 12 December 2025 10:17:00).