Object Description

(Note: My description is based on observing the horn on Tuesday, measurements and weights are all approximate and will be adjusted.)

Powder horn, mid-eighteenth century (better photos coming soon!)

Form and Formal Function:

This object is a powder horn. The horn is a lighter yellowish-brown color and appears to have yellowed with age. The horn has a curve to it, but has been polished (and possibly shaped). The length of the horn is around 12 inches. The diameter at the bottom of the horn is about 3 inches. The horn gets narrower from the bottom up. The top of the horn has a diameter of around 2 inches, while the tip’s diameter is .5 inch. The bottom of the horn has a flat, gold cap. The function of this cap is to create an enclosed form that holds powder. At the top of the horn there is a narrow silver rim that connects the horn to a larger gold cap that can open to pour powder into the gun. On the lower end of this cap there is a loop to attach the horn to its owner. (This could be done with a shoulder strap, on a belt, or attached to other gear, but I need to look into how powder horns were carried.) The upper gold cap has a series of simple, circular bands leading up to a ridge with a more pronounced band and a rounded notch that could be a mechanism to open the cap and let powder out. Beyond this notch, the cap is narrower (half the diameter or less) and extends with a similar series of bands for about 1.5 inches. The horn is surprisingly light, due to its hollow nature, and does not weight more than 2 pounds.

Decoration:

The horn is engraved with a variety of drawings, designs, and names of people who owned the horn and the person who gifted it to them. I have seen this type of engraving called scrimshaw, but am uncertain whether that is the proper term for engraving into all types of bone, or if that only refers to sea-faring peoples. The illustration that takes up the most space on the horn is the British Royal Coat of Arms, centrally situated on the horn. There is also a view of ships on the water with a waterfront view of a city in the background. Other illustrations include a tree, and two men in hunting clothing with two dogs hunting a stag.

“Gen. Edward Braddock” is engraved below a crest on the upper part of the horn. The crest looks as if it may have originally contained different engraving and then was blacked out to write “R. Tempest 1764 to 1809 to” this continues upward, “Robert R. Tempest 1834” continues upward, “Presented by Robert R. Tempest to James R. Tempest Dec. 25, 1874” continues below, “To Robert Tempest, Pianist and Composer, 1894.”

Materials and Their Significance:

Though I am not certain, I guess that the horn either a cattle or stag horn. On the horn there is an illustration of two men in hunting garments chasing a stag with large antlers. This illustration may commemorate the hunt, as may the transformation of the antler into a powder horn. This interpretation fits with readings that mention powder horns as trophies in addition to their utilitarian function. However, most other horns I have come across that are a similar size have been from cattle.

The metal caps on the horn look like they were made from a mold, but the materials appear expensive, especially as I peruse horns from other collections. The majority of horns I have come across have brass caps. Silver and gold signify the wealth and status of whoever had the horn assembled.

Who Made This:

The question of who made this horn is complicated and layered. The original owner (be it Braddock or someone else) may have hunted the animal that provided the horn, but I do not think they would have been the one who assembled it. The horn is beautifully shaped and the metal fixtures are perfectly symmetrical, leading me to believe that a professional artisan executed the cutting, shaping, and added fixtures.

The engraving is another layer. The drawings could have been commissioned while the horn was being assembled and done by a different artisan. It is also possible that drawing were added after the horn had been in use to commemorate events that the horn witnessed. The engravings with names are slightly easier to locate. These still would have been done by different artisans, likely who specialized in engraving, at the different times when the horn changed ownership.

Provenance:

Provenance is a huge question with this object. A Philadelphia Inquirer article from August 5, 1899, tells of Robert Tempest’s recent gift of the horn to the Museum in Independence Hall. This article states that the horn had previously belonged to General Edward Braddock, whose name is inscribed on the horn. Braddock died on July 13, 1755 after sustaining wounds at the Battle of the Monongahela at the beginning of the French and Indian War. The first R. Tempest appears on the horn with the date 1764 and the ownership of the horn from this date is clear. Until I do more research I can only speculate about the period during the war.

Questions:

• Did this powder horn really belong to Edward Braddock? If so, was it brought from England?
• How did the Tempest family acquire the horn?
• Why did this horn mean so much to this family? What type of story would each successive generation hear about the horn’s past?
• What is the relationship between the myth of Edward Braddock, commonly treated as a fool who disregarded the sound advice of his colonist compatriots, and this family’s treasuring of this object? What does this say about how people remember historical figures?
• Who did the illustrations and at what point in time? Was it one individual or many? Do the illustrations represent Braddock or the Tempest Family?
• What do the illustrations mean? Is the waterfront scene depicting Philadelphia or somewhere else? 
• What is the relationship between scrimshaw engravings and this type of powder horn decoration? What does that relationship tell about trade, economies, and Atlantic culture of the eighteenth century?
• What does it mean for an object in a format commonly accepted as American folk art to have the British Royal Coat of Arms engraved in it and belong to an aristocratic British general? What does this say about American identity in the eighteenth (and through the nineteenth) century?

Coming up:

This object analysis is still missing key bits of information. I have not yet seen the object file, which could very well answer some of my questions. I would also like to inventory the drawings on the horn and draw the horn from different angles. I will be able to do these things next time I visit Independence Hall. I have begun collecting a variety of sources ranging from histories of General Braddock and the French and Indian War, particularly the war in Pennsylvania, and writings about powder horns and folk traditions. 

Some Sources:

A decent overview of Powder Horns from a collector/connoisseur perspective: LeFevre, Gregory. "Engraved Powder Horns." Early American Life. October, 2011. 

A fun History Detectives episode about a powder horn: here!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a huge collection of powder horns, many from the same time period as the one I am studying.