Priming Flask (Primary Title)
powder horn (Object Name)
Unknown (Artist)
Indian princes and courtiers sported elaborate jewelry and weapons as marks of their social position. This elegant gilded-silver priming flask would have looked very impressive suspended from the waist of a prince or nobleman. Used to hold the small amount of gunpowder necessary to prime a musket, it is—like the nearly ivory example—appropriately ornamented with predators and their prey. A fantastic creature known as a makara catches an antelope in his powerful, lion-like jaws.
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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