19th C. Ottoman Brass Gunpowder Pouch w/ Leather Strap

Near East, Ottoman Empire, likely Balkan provinces. A pear-shaped miniature flask of hammered yellow metal, its swelling body tapering to a flat rectangular collar fitted with a hinged spring cover and a pair of lateral suspension loops. Incised ornament covers the visible face: a band of chevrons across the neck, a fan of pendant lobes below, and a looser foliate spray sweeping across the belly, all cut freehand with a fine graver. Twisted cord and a worn leather shoulder strap remain attached through the side lugs. Flasks of this diminutive size held priming powder for the pan of a flintlock or miqahlet rifle, worn at the chest alongside the larger main charge container, and formed part of the standard accoutrement of an armed Ottoman provincial horseman or hunter. Powder equipment in the Ottoman world was rarely a single object. A shooter carried a large flask or horn for the propellant charge and a much smaller companion, like this one, for the fine priming powder tipped into the flintlock pan, where grain size and dryness decided whether the gun fired at all. Balkan and Anatolian workshops produced these small flasks in cast and sheet copper alloys, sometimes with silver overlay for wealthier owners, more often, as here, with quickly incised chevron and vegetal motifs whose looseness suggests a village metalworker rather than a court atelier. The spring-loaded lid, snapped open with the thumb and closed by the same motion, allowed the shooter to charge the pan one-handed on horseback. Item # 204547

Estimate:$125

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