The Lowther Naval Cannon, circa 1800

10 The Lowther Naval Cannon, circa 1800

Height: 16in (41cm) Length overall: 43in (109cm) Depth: 26in (66cm)

Each of these George III naval bronze cannon has a tapering three stage-barrel flanked by plain trunnions, with a knob-shaped cascabel button before a shaped rectangular raised vent and ending in a 3½ in. bore muzzle, enclosing a removable conforming wood plug. They are set upon naval type bronze-mounted fourwheeled wooden carriages with wedge shaped quoins and knob handles. English, circa 1800. Provenance: By repute, formerly the property of Hugh Lowther (1857-1944), 5th Earl of Lonsdale, Lowther Castle, sold by his heir and brother, Lancelot, 6th Earl on April 17th, 1947, as part of the contents of Lowther Castle, Maple & Co. Ltd./Thomas Wyatt, Tuesday 14 April 1947 and two following days, lot 558: 'A pair of Old Gun Metal Cannons on teakwood carriages, 3ft. 6in. long'. These cannon later sold again at a Christie's auction, May 29, 1970, with the following catalogue entry: Lowther Castle was a castellated mansion built by Robert Smirke between 1806 and 1814 for William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1757-1844). It was constructed on the foundations of the former 17th century family seat, Lowther Hall, but it was only in the early 19th century that it was afforded the name 'castle' in keeping with the Europe-wide fashion for romanticism and which was promoted by influential characters such as William Beckford at Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire in England and by the writer Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford, Roxburghshire, Scotland. While it is not known when these naval cannon were acquired for Lowther, they would have been entirely fitting in the castle or its approaches and it is likely that they were in place soon after the castle was completed, or perhaps acquired later by the 5th Earl. A tantalising possibility is that the cannon were originally aboard the East Indiaman Lowther Castle which was active in the early 19th century. Damaged during the war by ‘tank development exercises’ and too large (with a room for every day of the year) and expensive to maintain, the contents were dispersed in what proved to be one of the largest English country house sales of the 20th century, and the huge castle was demolished in 1957. Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, (1857-1944), was a British aristocrat and sportsman, also known as the Yellow Earl and “England's greatest sporting gentleman”.

He explored the Arctic regions of Canada as far north as Melville Island, nearly dying in the attempt, and later gifted his considerable collection of Inuit artefacts to the British Museum. With great energy and foresight, he founded and presided over many institutions including the Automobile Association, which adopted his yellow livery, and the National Sporting Club. During the First World War he formed his own pals battalion, the Lonsdales (11th Battalion, Border Regiment) and a charity for the horses, Our Dumb Friends League (now the Blue Cross). He donated the Lonsdale Belts for Boxing and served as Master of both the Quorn and Cottesmore Hunts, chairman of Arsenal Football Club, senior steward of the Jockey Club and first president of the International Horse Show at Olympia.