Hand mortars are very scarce and rarely scene outside of museum collections. Comparatively little was written about them in their era or has been written about them since. Many are believed to have been actually used for launching fireworks rather than as weapons, but hand mortars launching "granadoes" are recorded in the 17th and 18th centuries though not in great detail, including in late 17th century Maryland. A misfire while a grenade with lit fuse win the barrel would certainly have been incredibly hazardous. This mortar has a British military lock that is marked with "TOWER" at the tail and the Georgian cipher at the center as well as "WR" inside. The barrel has an unknown marking on the breech, "Q627" on the right side of the barrel in the front section, and no proofs. There is a roughly 4 inch long antechamber at the breech and 16 inch main bore that measures 1 5/8 inches at the muzzle. The trigger guard is a commercial version with scroll engraving, and the buttplate is brass and similar to those on some military arms. The stock has a fusil-de-chasse/fowling piece style butt profile.

Good with aged patina on the brass, gray and brown patina mixed with mild pitting on the lock, replacement/reworked top jaw, and general marks and scratches. Aside from some minor cracking and chipping at the butt, the stock is very good as sanded, cleaned and varnished and has only minor scratches and marks. Mechanically fine. This is an impressive piece of man-portable artillery.