Holiday Cannon, Cast Iron, Black Powder

Boxes (boettes) then party cannons, cannons for public and private celebrations, but also castle or regatta cannons, etc.

are the common names for these small pieces of artillery intended to make, in principle, more noise than of badness. There are many models from the 16th century but especially from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century.
A page in the catalog of the French Manufacture of Arms and Cycles of Saint-Etienne was dedicated to them.
Pierre Surirey de Saint Remy, field marshal and author of the Memoirs of Artillery, described them thus in 1697: joy boxes which are made of iron or bronze, and which are loaded with powder and a buffer The cannons can be in cast iron, steel but also bronze.
In replicas of military cannons, the mounts are often made of wood reinforced with metal but also entirely of metal.
Some are fairly faithful reproductions of cannons or mortars. In the towns, these small black powder cannons were used during commemorations of July 14, patron saints or visits of personalities.