Bonhams' Arms & Armour sale in San Francisco has been led by an iron three-pounder cannon that is thought to have been used at the Siege of Yorktown during the American revolutionary war.
 The Siege of Yorktown lasted from September 28 to October 19, 1781, and resulted in a decisive Franco-American victory |
The cannon sold for $29,250 last night (June 10). It was once part of the collections of noted enthusiast AE Brooks and the US Cartridge Company.
The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land battle of the US revolutionary war, with the British Lord Cornwallis surrendering to French and American forces at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781, after nearly a month of siege.
With Lord Cornwallis and his army captured, the British were forced to negotiate an end to the revolutionary war, which culminated with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
 The pistols were likely looted from Versailles in either 1814 or 1815, as Prussian troops entered Paris |
Also achieving $29,250 were a pair of converted percussion pistols, which were sold complete with the original case and a full complement of accessories, including a removable shoulder stock.
The pistols are signed Boutete/Directeur Artist A Versailles, meaning that they were produced by French gunsmith Nicholas-Noel Boutete (1761-1833), who was a director at the Versailles arms factory from 1792.
Having been converted to percussion and probably restocked in Germany, it is likely that the pistols were taken by Prussian troops in April 1814 or July 1815, during the allied efforts against Napoleon.
Sotheby's has recently opened its selling exhibition, Liberty or Death: Relics from the Revolutionary War Era, in New York with a fantastic selection of arms and important artefacts offered.
