Curved horn powder flask of cow's horn, incised with interlacing bands, the end fitted with a disc of carved wood. Norwegian 1650-1700

Curved horn, golden brown in colour, mounted and decorated to form a gunpowder flask. The flask is decorated with scrolling bands carved in shallow relief against a cross-hatched background. The edges of the scrolls are incised with cross-banded lines. The neck of the flask is incised with alternating crosses and shield shapes, and is supported by an iron collar. The bottom of the flask is sealed with a wooden disk, probably of oak with a red stain, held in place with pegs visible on the outside of the flask. The disk is carved with a Maltese cross within a double circle, and lettering in a runic alphabet.

Given by Mrs Alec Tweedie F.R.G.S.

The horn was probably made by a country craftsman between 1650 and 1700, in the Setesdal region of Norway. The design of interlacing strapwork was a traditional Norwegian motif seen for example on 6th century gold swords and scabbards and on wood carvings in stave churches of the 13-14th centuries. (Roar Hauglid, Norway; A Thousand Years of Native Arts and Crafts, Mittet & Co, Oslo 1956. ills. 10,11,30).

The horn was given to the Museum by Mrs Alec Tweedie, with four other Norwegian objects (W.100 to W.104-1926) from her ethnographic collection, which she described as 'odds & ends from a traveller' (Acquisition File). Ethel Brilliana Tweedie (1862-1940) was a prolific English author, travel writer. biographer, historian, editor, journalist and illustrator. In her youth she visited Iceland and published her journal A Girl's Ride in Iceland in 1889; in 1894 she published A Winter Jaunt to Norway and in 1898 Through Finland in Carts. Her husband died in 1896, from the stress of financial failure, and she was left destitute, so took to writing to support herself and her two young sons, both of whom died later on active service. She was an early and enthusiastic advocate of women's rights and women's suffrage. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, her book An Adventurous Journey, Russia-Siberia-China was published in 1929 (London, Thornton Butterworth 1929). Other items from her collection were passed on to Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, the Horniman Museum and he British Museum. She gave, and also bequeathed on her death in 1940, a wide variety of other objects to the V&A.

This would have been used to carry gunpowder. Horn was often used for containers, because it was light.

Animal horns were traditionally used to hold gunpowder, naturally having a narrow end for pouring the powder. The wider end was sealed with a wood plug. In Norway, horns had traditionally been used as drinking vessels, but as guns gradually became more common in rural districts in the 1600s, the powder horn became a new product for country craftsmen. The dense nature of horn is suitable for fine linear carving, in this case with running scrollwork, a traditional Norwegian motif, against a background of cross-hatching. Pigment was sometimes rubbed into the incisions to make the design stand out. Powder horns were often highly decorative, with incised patterns and metal mounts, clearly made for display as well as for use. They were worn on the body hanging from a strap.

W.103-1926