Powder Horn
ca. 1700 - ca. 1730 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a powder horn, highly likely made in Germany in about 1700-1730.
Powder flasks or horns are portable containers of wood, horn, metal, leather or ceramic used to hold the priming powder or gunpowder for firearms. They normally terminated in a metal nozzle which also served as a powder measure, closed by a plug or spring cap, and are often highly decorated.
Gunpowder began to be transported in pouches or more rigid containers at about the same date as the introduction of hand-held firearms in the fifteenth century. Such flask might have a military purpose, or be used for hunting. The very decorative pieces were above all a singn of rank, and at the same time aesthetic objects in their own right, and probably never actually functioned as containers for gunpowder.
Powder flasks or horns are portable containers of wood, horn, metal, leather or ceramic used to hold the priming powder or gunpowder for firearms. They normally terminated in a metal nozzle which also served as a powder measure, closed by a plug or spring cap, and are often highly decorated.
Gunpowder began to be transported in pouches or more rigid containers at about the same date as the introduction of hand-held firearms in the fifteenth century. Such flask might have a military purpose, or be used for hunting. The very decorative pieces were above all a singn of rank, and at the same time aesthetic objects in their own right, and probably never actually functioned as containers for gunpowder.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Horn engraved |
| Brief description | Powder horn, cow horn, with engraved mythological figures, probably German, ca. 1700-1730 |
| Physical description | A powder horn, slightly twisted, is decorated with incised and inked decoration of a warrior in classical dress, perhaps Mars, Mercury, Venus on a shell, and a seated female figure holding a crescent moon, perhaps Diana, angels with a baby boy holding a large ring, a tree encircled by a chain, clusters of grapes and decorative foliate designs. The imagery and iconography are unclear, and the incised decoration is weak in design. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, F. S. A., 1956 |
| Object history | From the Hildburgh bequest in 1956. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This is a powder horn, highly likely made in Germany in about 1700-1730. Powder flasks or horns are portable containers of wood, horn, metal, leather or ceramic used to hold the priming powder or gunpowder for firearms. They normally terminated in a metal nozzle which also served as a powder measure, closed by a plug or spring cap, and are often highly decorated. Gunpowder began to be transported in pouches or more rigid containers at about the same date as the introduction of hand-held firearms in the fifteenth century. Such flask might have a military purpose, or be used for hunting. The very decorative pieces were above all a singn of rank, and at the same time aesthetic objects in their own right, and probably never actually functioned as containers for gunpowder. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.130-1956 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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