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Firearm Accessories

19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Sindh (made)

Matchlock and flintlock firearms required many tools and accessories for their proper use and maintenance. The number of these varied widely. In India the practice of carrying these all on a single belt, usually around the waist, persisted well into the 19th century. Typically the equipment carried included two flasks containing different grades of gunpowder, a coarse grade for the main charge and a finer grade to use in the firing pan. As well as pouches for bullets, wadding, spare matchcord etc., sometimes prepared cartridges were carried, as well as an ignition source such as tinder and a flint or firesteel.


Object details

Categories
Arms & Armour
India Museum
Object type
Firearm accessories
Parts
This object consists of 8 parts.

  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
  • Firearm Accessory
Materials and techniques
Leather covered with silk embroidered velvet
Brief description
Firearm accessories (kamr) comprising powder horn, priming flask, four pouches, and steel, mounted on a belt, Jacobabad, Sind, 19th century.
Physical description
Set of matchlock accessories comprising powder horn, priming flask, four pouches with a steel strike-a-light and belt.
Credit line
Transferred from the India Museum in 1879
Production
Transferred from the India Museum to South Kensington Museum in 1879
Summary
Matchlock and flintlock firearms required many tools and accessories for their proper use and maintenance. The number of these varied widely. In India the practice of carrying these all on a single belt, usually around the waist, persisted well into the 19th century. Typically the equipment carried included two flasks containing different grades of gunpowder, a coarse grade for the main charge and a finer grade to use in the firing pan. As well as pouches for bullets, wadding, spare matchcord etc., sometimes prepared cartridges were carried, as well as an ignition source such as tinder and a flint or firesteel.
Bibliographic references
  • Egerton, Wilbraham, An illustrated handbook of Indian arms; being a classified and descriptive catalogue of the arms exhibited at the India museum: with an introductory sketch of the military history of India, London, 1880 p.139
  • Lord Egerton of Tatton, Indian and Oriental Armour, London, 1896, p. 139, Cat. No. 739
Other numbers
  • 739 - Egerton Catalogue Number
  • 6559-'67 - India Museum Slip Book
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
2663:1 to 8/(IS)

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Record createdSeptember 24, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O84416/firearm-accessories-unknown/
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