Awesome 19th Century Masonic
Firing Cannon
This is one of the nicest Masonic firing
cannons you'll ever see. This is an early heavy crystal cannon. It
weighs nearly a pound of lead crystal. The cannon is replete with
a multitude of intricately copper wheel engraved images: The crossed swords,
crossed keys, crossed quills, plumb, square and level, rough ashlar and
perfect ashlar, the gavel, the trowel, the Sun, Moon and Stars at night, the
Seven Steps representing the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences, the eight
pointed star, the All-Seeing Eye, the Blazing Glory, the Royal Arch, the
Oriental Chair, the three Great Lights, the Pillars of Boaz and Jachin with
both the terrestrial and celestial spheres, the tetragrammaton and ineffable
name, the Altar of Masonry and the Lesser Lights, the grave and memento mori.
This is an early piece as evidenced by its weight, the presence of small
bubbles/inclusions, and its method of polishing/cutting.
This firing glass we think to be Bohemian
(currently Czech, previously German). Bohemia was the seat of royalty and
emperors for much of the middle ages and it was at the "cutting edge" of glass
design and production. Manufacturing
leaded glass in
this area was a specialty trade, especially in the city of Prague. The two
main identifiers are its weight... the glass is heavy because of its lead
content and second by holding a Bohemian crystal glass up to even normal light
should result in "multiple rainbows" as the lead content increases the light
refraction properties it's like looking into hundreds of prisms
simultaneously. This glass is dated in the late 1800's which is when the
German production of leaded glass was at its peak! Art engraving and faceting
is also regularly done on
Bohemian glass as it
improved it's light qualities. A couple of links to glass work companies in
the Czech Republic are below and should you want to order a special Masonic
Decanter and/or a set of firing glasses I'm sure they'd be happy to help you!
http://www.moser-glass.com/en/tradition/glass-museum
http://www.egermann.cz/?go=products〈=en
