^Lot 1574 Large bronze signal cannon (mortar), Spanish colonial (1500s-1600s).

Large bronze signal cannon (mortar), Spanish colonial (1500s-1600s). 3985 grams. 4" tall, 3-1/2" in diameter. Short, crude, flat-bottomed cannons like this one were apparently in widespread use throughout the colonies but particularly in Peru, where they were fired either to send up signals or test powder, the surfaces on this one dark and dusty, with touch-hole near bottom, scarce as larger than most.