December 10-13, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2024
"Elevation and Plan of an 18 Pounder." Watercolor and ink on paper, 17-3/4 x 21-1/2 in. (view), with signature of artist, "G. Lewis fecit", in lower right corner. The details or plan of an iron 18-pounder cannon and its 4-wheeled, "truck carriage" are depicted in both side perspective and overhead, with an inked scale below. Color shading indicates components of wood and metal, the grey indicating iron and the buff indicating wood. The side view shows the wooden truck wheels with iron rims, as used for garrison artillery, while the overhead shows them all-wood, as used aboard warships. A handsomely executed work done in c. 1812 for the British Board of Ordnance by George Lewis, then on duty as a senior draughtsman in the Drawing Room at the Tower of London Armoury. Lewis had formerly been a cadet at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, where he studied and clearly excelled in drawing. Shortly after completing this work, Lewis obtained his commission as an officer in the Royal Artillery and served through the close of the Napoleonic Wars and beyond. PROVENANCE: purchased as lot 10, Bonhams Important Maritime Paintings, NYC, 30 JAN 2015. CONDITION: small dampstain along lower left edge, running 5 1/2 H x 3/8 in. L, not affecting image area, otherwise clean and