THE CHENNAI Government Museum houses nearly two dozen
historic cannons. For several decades, these guns were
just ignored.
To give them the attention they deserve, the Museum
authorities recently decided to give a facelift to the
cannons and carried out this task last week.
Of a total of 40 belonging to the Museum, 23 cannons
are in the Egmore campus and the rest with the
Archaeological Survey of India and the Army. Some of them
were made in foreign countries such as Denmark, Thailand
and Burma.
Four cannons used by Tipu Sultan against the British in
1799 are among those which have secured ``a fresh lease of
life''. They are said to be of French manufacture. The
distinguishing mark of one of the cannons is the
ornamental work including the figures of two animals,
probably dogs, on two rings.
The others include an old European cannon captured at
Mandalay during the Third Burmese War in 1885 and another
made in Amsterdam in 1785.
There are two 200-year-old cannons, bearing the mark of
Christian VII of Denmark with an inscription stating that
the gun was believed to have been handed over by Denmark
at the cession of Tranquebar in 1845.
For the fresh coating, a mixture of petroleum jelly,
coconut oil and kerosene was used in accordance with the
established norms. While engaged in the task, the
authorities came across inscriptions on two cannons which
were not recorded earlier. Both the guns were believed to
have been taken by the famous English General Draper in
Manila in 1762.
The entire operation, which got the technical input
from Mr. R. Balasubramanian, Curator (Archaeology), cost
the authorities a nifty Rs. 600 and the Commissioner of
Museums Mr. R. Kannan says ``though the sum is paltry, it
helped to preserve the historical objects, whose value is
immeasurable''.
By T. Ramakrishnan
