Unknown pattern, New York Militia field gun

[cannonmn]

I've been searching for any info whatsoever regarding a bronze 6-pounder field gun, with the "SNY" script logo on the breech, for "State of New York."  No luck in 8 mos. of searching.  I emailed the New York State Archives with no results.  I also hit up the New York State National Guard historians, who had nothing.

I'm well aware of the practice during the period of this  piece, with state militias, of turning in the old, worn out pieces to the founder so the bronze could be credited to their accounts.  In MA, anyway, Revere gave 25 cents a pound credit toward the price of new guns  which was 50 to 55 cents a pound.  I think this cannon is from the period ca. 1800-1840.  It was fitted for the Hidden-type percussion lock, which means it was still in service ca. 1845.  It was not made for the lock however since small parts of the mouldings had to be filed away to fit the lock.

I've checked Revere's records pretty thoroughly going back to the Rev War period, and they show nothing done for the State of New York, although they cast guns for many other states. 

As you can see the piece shows quality workmanship, so I suspect it was made by an experienced cannon founder, but which one?

The only marks on it are the SNY logo, the number 6 on the chase, and the weight mark on the breechface.  None of the few known Revere miitia pieces has any indication of a maker's mark.  There is nothing about the style of this piece that is similar to known Revere pieces (they look "thinner.")













Any help you can give to finding any documentation on this piece, or another identical piece, is appreciated.

[Double D]

Nice John!! Very Nice.

Have you considered that  SNY might be an abbvreviation for something other than New York? Maybe Latin or Frech say instead of English.

[Max Caliber]

The script looks like it may be a trophy piece. Looks European. Maybe from the Mexican War?

Max

[cannonmn]

Have you considered that  SNY might be an abbvreviation for something other than New York?

That's certainly within the realm of possibility.  "State of New York" is at the top of the list for now due to the use of those initials on later bronze cannon, and other New York Militia items, notably belt buckles.

We're fairly certain the New York militia, like some other "wealthy state" militias, was armed with six-pounders as their primary field gun.  The only other common caliber I've seen documented among early 19th C. militias (at least the few I've looked into) is four-pounders, such as the well-known Revere battery maintained by the Newport Artillery Company.

So the logic I've used, which is certainly very flawed, is that since New York used six-pounders, and there are no others known, this is probably one of them, and all the others were turned in to be melted down.  The only reason I can guess this one was not turned in is that it appears to have been fired very little if at all.

I think the first "break" I'll get is to find an early SNY logo on some other piece of equipment or uniform that matches this script. So far no luck on that either.

Keep the ideas coming, am open to any and all.

[cannonmn]

Here's a pic of a SNY artillery belt plate with a similar logo, is it close enough to be considered evidence or not? 

http://www.corinthcivilwarrelics.com/pwbuckle11.html

[Double D]

Looks like pretty good evidence to me !!!

[lance]

  That is a nice cannon!!! I hope you bought that SNY belt plate to go with it.

[cannonmn]

I hope you bought that SNY belt plate to go with it.

Well Lance, yesterday I was happy to have saved the digital pic of the buckle, but now I think you've talked me into buying it.  I'm a bit leery of CW buckles since so many fakes are out there, but the fakes tend to be cast buckles.  To make this SNY buckle, which is die-struck, you'd need a pretty expensive steel die set, so I feel a bit more safe with that.  I've also asked the seller to provide a receipt stating what the item is and when it dates from, so we'll see how that goes.