This is a great looking Confederate artillery shell. This is the style that is known to collectors as the Confederate "Mullane" pattern shell. The body of the shell looks very similar to the Confederate Read shells but the base is completely different. The base had the copper sabot intact with the distinctive rifling from the Confederate cannon. The sabot of these Mullane shells are held on by an iron bolt and this one is still present and displays beautifully. As you can imagine with this design the sabot and bolt almost always flew off in flight as happened with this one. Two of the three studs that were designed to hold the saber intact at still present. It has an original sabot that has been bolted onto the base of the shell and as you see, it enhances the display greatly. At the top of the shell it has the fuse hole that would have had the wooden fuse holder at one time. You can also see the mold seam where the shell body was cast in a 2 piece mold. The iron of the shell has been nicely cleaned and coated for display and preservation. The verbal history of the shell is that it was found eons ago in the area of the Chancellorsville, Virginia Battlefield. This one was in the collection of John Biemeck and is accompanied by his documentation on the find. He states that because of the location, it would have been fired on May 3rd 1863. Biemeck is a retired U.S. Army Colonel in the Ordnance Corps. This is a great looking Confederate cannon shell that is a scarce style.