1800's Purple Onion Glass Naval Boarding Weapon

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Condition: Mint condition with no damage. Squat onion shape. Polished. A very clean example that came out of a Philadelphia Maritime collection. Not a shipwreck or marsh recovery. Very obviously a naval boarding weapon because of the shape and design. Dark black purple color. Strong and stable. No fractures. Measures 9 inches tall and 6 inches in diameter. Cone shaped lip for powder filling. Pinch top funnel mouth with small lip curl. Reinforcing glass band around neck top. Handblown with crude closed pontil. Lots of tiny bubbles and open surface bubbles throughout. Museum quality item. This is a 18th century heavy glass naval boarding weapon. Resembles a squat onion and is heavy thickness glass. We purchased this from a Philadelphia maritime collection. It is empty of powder and completely safe with absolutely no powder present. From a early sailing ship to be used for defense. It is a medium thickness glass version of grenade like device that was filled with a mix of gunpowder, metal scrapes and nails, then a cotton or canvas nitrate soaked rag was forced into the neck (the heavy glass ring around the neck it done to prevent breakage), sealed with wax, and further sealed with tar soaked canvas and rope, A length of rope was often left on the neck so that the filled canister could be hurled further onto the deck of a merchant vessel from the rigging of the attacking ship. Movies of 16th, 17th, and 18th century naval battles between galleons often depict broadside cannonades w the outcome was dependent on the CaptainÂ's seamanship and luck of the wind, weather, and fog. These battles are a matter of historical record and are still talked about today like the courage and skills of Lord Horatio Nelson. However, numerous battles were between man of war, galleons, smaller warships, or more lighter armed (but not always) privateers (more on privateers below) and merchant or commerce ships. Gold and silver moved on galleons but large quantities of lessor goods moved on lightly armed frigates and boats. If these ships could be taken with minimal damage, the goods and often the ships could be sold for vast profits. The attacking ships often carried a Letter of Marque (more info on Letter of Marque below) which allowed them to seize goods under the protection of their respective government. Sailors of the time were always heavily armed with knives, pistols, and cutlasses whether they were on a galleon or merchant ship. Tossing a loaded deck sweeper onto the deck of a merchant ship was intended to subdue the crew with glass fragments and shrapnel to reduce their fight and make seizure of the vessel easier. A privateer was a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a country's government to attack and seize cargo from another country's ships. Prior to the development of international law among European nations, t was no legal recourse for minor grievances. Privateering was a form of covert operation used to resolve these matters without open warfare. The government of a country provided a letter of marque and reprisal to a shipowner that allowed him to arm his ship and attack other ships sailing under a particular flag. In return he received a share of the seized cargo, while the rest went to the government as payment for the grievance. To the target country, a privateer looked very much like a pirate, and indeed this was the intention (and at times privateers would convert to piracy). The only difference was that pirates were considered outlaws by all nations, while privateers had immunity from the country that commissioned them, and were considered as prisoners of war if caught by other countries. Privateers were sometimes known as "gentleman pirates". Sometimes privateers would even be commissioned to hunt down other privateers, while some of the time, privateers would commit acts of piracy without being commissioned to do so if it fit the privateer's agenda. European powers renounced privateering in the 1856 Declaration of Paris. Other countries (including the United States) renounced it late... read more

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