Horn thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Horn

1695 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This hunting horn in ivory with silver mounts depicts on one side a boar hunt scene and on the other side a coat of arms and the date 1695. 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
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Horn
  • Mount
Materials and techniques
Ivory with metal mounts
Brief description
Horn, ivory with silver mounts, depicting hunting scene, Germany, 1695
Physical description
Hunting horn in ivory with silver mounts. On one side a boar hunting scene with mounted hunter, carrying a lance, accompanied by running dogs. The end is formed in from the head of an open-mouthed dog with open muzzle and sharp teeth, surrounded by further decorative foliate carving. A metal ring is attached to the top, above the dog's head, presumably for a sash or leather handle, now lost, which would have been held by another metal fixing, also now missing, although the drill hole remains. On the other side an unidentified coat of arms is carved in an elaborate cartouche and the date 1695 is inked in underneath. The silver rim is engraved with further hunting scenes in a landscape. Patterned in between and the mouthpiece in the form of an animal's head.
Dimensions
  • Length: 42cm
Credit line
Given by Dr W.L. Hildburgh F.S.A. in 1949; formerly on loan from Dr Hildburgh.
Object history
Given by Dr. W.L. Hildburgh F.S.A. in 1949; formerly on loan from Dr. Hildburgh.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This hunting horn in ivory with silver mounts depicts on one side a boar hunt scene and on the other side a coat of arms and the date 1695. 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
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013 p. 395
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, p. 395, cat. no. 390
Collection
Accession number
A.31-1949

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest