Antique 18th century style pair of desk cannon English circa 1920

This fine example of a World War II military spotting telescope is the type issued to a British army sniper, who would have used it to locate an enemy sniper in a hidden position. T...

A superb pair of early 19th C French empire bronze candlesticks. This very fine pair of early 19th century French candlesticks are...

This fine and very well accomplished scratch built model is very pleasing to the eye with its exceptional detail, good scale and bright crisp paintwork. It represents an early 19th-...

This very elegant pair of English Regency period classical bronze urns are of small proportions and made to a very stylish and sophisticated design. They stand on plain square bases ...

A fabulous and unusual pair of finely hand carved late 19th Century wooden cannons of miniature proportions for interior display and would be stunning situated on either side of a la...

A magnificent pair of full size replica 19th Century naval canons. These full size '3-pound' ship' canons are replicas of the 17th and 18th Century guns that would have lined the s...

A fine 18th century model of a field cannon, the carraige with brass details and tools to the sides, the barrel cast in bronze. Circa 1770 Barrel length 26cm

Pair of antique English naval cannon each with a tapering three stage barrel flanked by plain trunnions, with a knob shaped cascabel button before a shaped rectangular raised vent and ending in a 3 1/2” bore muzzle, enclosing a removable conforming wood plug, circa 1800. Stood upon a naval type bronze-mounted four wheeled wooden carriage, including its wedge shaped quoin with knob handle. The Earls of Lonsdale, Lowther Castle, Cumbria, presumably by descent to Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale (1857-1944), until sold by his heir and brother, Lancelot, 6th Earl, as part of the contents of Lowther Castle, Maple & Co. Ltd./Thomas Wyatt, Tuesday 14 April 1947 and two following days, lot 558: ‘A pair of Old Gun Metal Cannons on teakwood carriages, 3ft. 6in. long’. Mrs. P.M. Adie-Shepherd, sold Christie’s, London, 29 May 1970, lot 96. Lowther Castle is a castellated mansion built by Robert Smirke between 1806 and 1814 for William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1757-1844). It was constructed on the foundations of the former 17th century family seat, Lowther Hall, but it was only in the early 19th century that it was afforded the name ‘castle’ in keeping with the Europe-wide fashion for romanticism and which was promoted by influential characters such as William Beckford at Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire in England and by the writer Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford, Roxburghshire, Scotland. While it’s not known when these naval cannon were acquired for Lowther they would have been entirely fitting in the castle or its approaches and it’s likely that they were in place soon after the castle was completed, or perhaps acquired later by the 5th Earl. A tantalising possibility is that the cannon were originally aboard the East Indiaman Lowther Castle which was active in the early 19th century. HUGH CECIL LONSDALE, 5TH EARL OF LONSDALE (1857-1944) AND THE DEMISE OF LOWTHER CASTLE In 1882 at the age of 25 Hugh Lonsdale (1857-1944) unexpectedly inherited the earldom and with it the extensive Lonsdale estate, including tens of thousands of acres of Cumberland and Westmorland and coalfields at Whitehaven. However, despite his spectacular inherited wealth – he was suddenly one of the wealthiest men in England, over the course of his lifetime he managed to decimate the family fortune. He led a full and colourful life, one of adventure and luxury. An early intrepid escapade took place in July 1888 when, as part of an expedition called the Scotch Naturalist Society, he set embarked on horse sleigh...