French & Indian War Cannonball, used as a counter-weight, from Fort Saint-Frédéric, NY (ON HOLD)

This is another unique piece coming out of a 60-year collection of French & Indian War/Revolutionary War artillery. Being offered is a French & Indian War 4-pounder cannonball that was fashioned into a counter-weight for a large gate, stable, or coral  It has a diameter of 3.19 inches and weighs 4-pounds, 13-ounces. There is a hand-forged bracket that surrounds the ball with a circle on top for attachment of a rope or chain. It was recovered many years ago from the ruins of Fort Saint-Frédéric, NY.

Fort Saint-Frédéric was a French fort built on Lake Champlain to secure the region against British colonization and control the lake. Construction was started in 1734 by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry. When complete, Fort Saint-Frédéric walls were twelve feet thick and four stories high, with cannons on each level.

It was manned by hundreds of French officers and troops. The fort gave the French control of the frontier between New France and the British colonies to the south. Many French raids originated there, and it was a target of British operations in the French and Indian War.

Constructed on the tip of a strategic peninsula at a narrows in the lake, the cannons of Fort Saint-Frédéric were capable of halting all north-south travel on the lake. In 1759 when British forces moved against Fort Saint-Frédéric during the war, the retreating French destroyed it.

The ball and bracket remain in very nice condition, having some slight roughness, but no flaking, indicative of an early recovery. An interesting note is the chipping on the bottom of the ball from constant slamming into the rough ground. This collection began in the late 1950s and was created by private acquisitions, closed museums, diggers, and from lake divers.

The collector meticulously displayed and cataloged every piece along with its provenance. His markings were crude at the time, but now they have proved to be very important. Many of the pieces went through electrolysis to remove crusted rust.

This is the first time this cannonball has been on the open market, and it is truly a great piece of early American History, I am sure there must have been more of these counter-weights, but this is only the second time I have seen one. It definitely merits a place in an advanced collection or museum. As with all the pieces in this esteemed collection, a Certificate of Authenticity will be included.