The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 16, 2026

A gilt brass and wood powder flask is shaped like a tapered, flat-topped cone with a vertical nozzle and ring handle. High-relief golden figures wrap around the dark wood center, depicting five individuals in tunics. A seated figure rests near a tree on the left, while four others stand toward the right. Repeating circular floral patterns form borders at the top and bottom edges, framing the scene.

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

Did You Know?

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.
  • -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. #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
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Powder Flask|url=false|author=|year=c. 1590|access-date=16 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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