The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Powder Flask

c. 1590

Italy, 16th century

Gilt brass over fabric covered wood

Overall: 19.4 x 12.7 cm (7 5/8 x 5 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.666

Location

210B Firearms

Fun Fact

This powder flask depicts a mythological scene that precipitated the Trojan War. Here we see the Trojan prince Paris giving a golden apple to Aphrodite, the goddess who reciprocates by offering him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta.

Description

Luxury powder flasks served as highly visible badges of ranks. Many highly decorated flasks, like this example, embody all the allure and characteristics of a work of art. This flask depicts an ancient Greek story in which the youthful Paris must reward the most beautiful woman in the world with a golden apple.

Provenance
-1916
Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1916-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat. #335 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: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mention: p. 155, F36 archive.org
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 175, cat. no. 248
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 195, cat. no. 250
Exhibition history

Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.666