Powder flask, horn, mounted in openwork with engraved gilt brass, Germany, dated 1603

Horn, with mounts of gilt brass, pierced and engraved, curved and of oval section, the front decorated with a soldier in slashed costume and morion sliding a ramrod down a gun. The spout has a spring-loaded catch to dispense measured quantites of powder. Two suspension loops are attached to the inside curve for fixing to a shoulder belt. An owner's initials 'ILZ' are scratched on the base with the date 1603.

Bequeathed by Major Victor Alexander Farquharson

This flask was bequeathed to the Museum by Major Victor A. Farquharson in 1927.

Historical significance: Like the pistols and guns that accompanied them, decorated flasks were costly items. Inlaid firearms and flasks reflected the owners' status and were kept as much for display as for use. Daggers, firearms, gunpowder flasks and stirrups worn with the most expensive clothing projected an image of the fashionable man-at-arms. The most finely crafted items were worn as jewellery.

This powder flask was used to carry gunpowder. A measured quantity of powder was drawn off by using the spring-loaded pivoting cap on the nozzle.

Powder flasks were made of hollowed-out cattle horns or closely grained woods such burr maple, boxwood or walnut, as in this case, and their purpose was to protect gun powder from water or fire. The shape is characteristic of flasks of flattened cow horn widely used in Europe in the second half of the 16th century. The shape of these curved flasks also mirrors the shape of the stocks of contemporary firearms.

Firearms became more and more sophisticated during the 16th-century, particularly after the development of the wheel-lock firing mechanism, a spring-loaded ignition system which allowed guns to be loaded and ready to fire before use. Despite this increased efficiency, a number of accessories were required to load and operate the firearms.

The main charge, placed in the barrel with the shot, was carried in a powder flask. Smaller priming flasks contained fine-grain powder for priming the pans of wheel-lock firearms. This flask has two suspension rings for attaching to a bandolier, a type of sling worn over the shoulder or around the waist, from which hung the various accessories required for a weapon including spanners for the mechanism, measured charges, powder flasks and priming flasks.

Part of this flask's decoration is an engraved figure of a man using a ramrod to push a musket ball into a gun. The man wears a doublet and knee-length hose with a fairly high waistline designed to emphasising the upper legs, a fashion of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His clothing is slashed to reveal the fabrics underneath, a style that harked back to the 15th century and was a particular favourite of 'Landsknecht' mercenary soldiers. On his head is a 'morion', a tall cone-shaped helmet used in the last quarter of the 16th century.

There are similar flasks to this surviving in the James A. De Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor (W1/96/4; W1/110/2; W1/104/1; W1/104/2), and others in the Wallace Collection, London (A.1260 & 1262) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (04.3186).

This powder flask was used to carry gunpowder. A measured quantity of powder was drawn off by using the spring-loaded pivoting cap on the nozzle.

Firearms became more and more sophisticated during the 16th-century and required a number of accessories to load and operate them. The main charge, placed in the barrel with the shot, was carried in the powder flask. Smaller priming flasks contained fine-grain powder for priming the pans of wheel-lock firearms. This flask has two suspension rings for attaching to a bandolier, a type of sling worn over the shoulder or around the waist, from which hung the various accessories required for a weapon including spanners for the mechanism, measured charges, powder flasks and priming flasks.

Part of this flask's decoration is an engraved figure of a man using a ramrod to push a musket ball into a gun. The man wears a doublet and knee-length hose with a fairly high waistline designed to emphasising the upper legs, a fashion of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His clothing is slashed to reveal the fabrics underneath, a style that harked back to the 15th century and was a particular favourite of 'Landsknecht' mercenary soldiers. On his head is a 'morion', a tall cone-shaped helmet used in the last quarter of the 16th century.

Like the pistols and guns that accompanied them, decorated flasks were costly items. Inlaid firearms and flasks reflected the owners' status and were kept as much for display as for use. Daggers, firearms, gunpowder flasks and stirrups worn with the most expensive clothing projected an image of the fashionable man-at-arms. The most finely crafted items were worn as jewellery.

M.499-1927