The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 13, 2024

Powder Flask

Powder Flask

c. 1680
(German, 1645–1701)
German, Swabian, Gmünd, 17th century
boxwood with design of stag and hounds carved in high relief; steel funnel, mounts, springcatch
Diameter: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.); Overall: 14.3 cm (5 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1887
Location: 210B Firearms

Did You Know?

Johann Michael Maucher was the most famous member of a Schwabian family of ivory, wood, and amber carvers.

Description

Powder flasks are small, portable containers designed to hold gunpowder. From the 1400s to the 1800s, powder flasks were indispensable for charging and priming firearms of all types. Without powder flasks firearms were of little use to their owners. Many highly decorated flasks rank as works of art.
  • -1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat: #583 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: p. 152, F24 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 148; cat. no. 248, p. 176
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 257, p. 195
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Powder Flask|url=false|author=Johann Michael Maucher|year=c. 1680|access-date=13 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1887