Flint gunlock for a 12-pounder cannon on a wooden breech, Rijkswerf Vlissingen, Brignol, 1820
brass, iron, wood and rope, h 22.3cm × w 49cm × d 40.2cm Catalogue entry
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.
