A fine 1:4 scale model of a 5 1/2 inch Howitzer

A fine 1:4 scale model of a 5 1/2 inch Howitzer, the carriage and limber built as a template at the Bombay Artillery's Gun Carriage Manufactory, Colaba Island, in 1822; brass ordnance 11 inches including cascobel, brass mounted carriage and limber with iron rimmed spoked wheels, the trail bearing brass plaque inscribed 'Captain Thew/ Agent/ 1822 Bombay', further plaque inscribed 'Carriage Howitzer/ brass with Limber/ Heavy 5 1/2 Inch/ Scale 3 inch to a foot', brass number plate 'No 118', ammunition box with partitioned interior, length when assembled approximately 5.5 feet.

The British East India Company maintained factories for the local production of the materials of war. In the case of the Bombay Presidency this included a gun carriage manufactory on Old Woman's Island (later Colaba). Captain Robert Thew (a soldier with a distinguished career including action in the battle of Kirkee during the Third Anglo Maratha War) was the company's agent for gun carriages from 1821 to 1827. Like other men in his role he built models of this sort to provide a template to aid India craftsmen in building full sized gun carriages. The origin of the ordnance itself is uncertain, since the carriage factory was not also a foundry, but it's form complies closely to that of contemporary examples of the full sized version, for example: that which may be seen at the Royal Armouries collection, Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.

Reference: Brigadier General H.A. Young, C.I.E., C.B.E., 'The East India Company's Arsenals & Manufactories'