Old horn

[Lindisfarne793]

Hello, all

   This is a horn of mine that I find interesting. The year inscribed on the body seemed highly unlikely to me, but I am a sucker for a recessed neck on a powder horn, and I purchased it, frankly, because I liked it. Closer inspection revealed a second, fainter year on the plug, which I *think* is 1876. The tacks are strange looking to me, but they are somewhat irregular, and here and there exhibit a slight rim that makes the heads seem swaged. The best part, in my opinion,  was that it seemed a touch heavy when it first arrived. Being a thicker walled horn, I chalked it up to that until I fished a fiberoptic camera down the spout to get a better look at construction. I found that the inside of the horn contained a solid, congealed mass of black powder!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you all and see what you think. I have attached a mess of photos,  because it breaks my heart to find an interesting post with too few images.
Kevin

[Top Jaw]

With the position of the broken off lip, I suspect the initials and date were added after the lip broke off since it would have hung with those oriented almost straight down otherwise.  So I would agree the date is extremely suspect.

Here is some of my own conjecture and one potential explanation. Since the centennial year 1876 is on the base. Perhaps this was a Rev War horn and some great great grandson was paying homage to the original owner, and decided to put his g-g-grandpappys initials and “birth year” on it during that 100 year celebration in 1876.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  😄

What is the length of the horn, and the diameter of the spout hole?

[Pukka Bundook]

Lindisfarne,

Nice old horn with a newer date I suspect.

Are you from Lindisfarne?
Not been there for a Decades.
Mead made there can be good stuff....but they make better than they sell very often!
First Viking raid....      :-)

Richard.

[Kevin]

That is a nice, neat horn.  Thanks for sharing the images.

Kevin

[Greg Pennell]

I like the early carved neck horns as well, and that one is a dandy!  Many thanks for sharing!

Greg

[Lindisfarne793]

I'm glad you all are enjoying this!
Top Jaw,
    1876 being the centennial did not escape me, and for a while, I wondered if the horn was made to commemorate that year. It was clearly carried, I think, which was made obvious to me by the darker neck wearing lighter on one side. As if the load of powder wasn't evidence enough. I had also considered that the horn might have been repaired at one time, and perhaps that was the second date.

Pukka Bundook,
   I am not from Lindisfarne, but I do have a deep interest in all things Norse.
   I also suspect the year was a later addition. It is worn quite smooth, now, but if you look, there is a very fine double line running around the body of the horn just before the neck. That delicate line doesn't agree with the rather deep, and I daresay illiterate inciting of the initials and date.

Anyway, I find it elegant in its simplicity, and it brings me a lot of pleasure to handle. Perhaps one day, I will try and copy it for my own shooting kit.

Stay tuned; I have another horn I want to share as soon as I take some decent photographs.

[Lindisfarne793]

I'm sorry, I just recalled that someone asked for measurements. Here you go.

[Top Jaw]

Sorry, but I have one more theory here.  From the 1/2” spout hole and proportions if the step down, it almost seems this horn may have been shortened at one point (perhaps after some damage), and a new base installed. (1876 maybe).  I know it had a lip on it, but maybe the original length did to, and the repairer was trying to replicate that.  The neck seems so much more refined than the base.  And the base is really thick, like it was farther up the body at one point, and not worked down as much.  And there are a couple of deep marks on it that resemble those made by a saw jumping out of the cut as it was being shortened.

I know these are all maybes and could have beens, but that is my impression when I look at it closer. I can envision it 2 or 3 inches longer, with a larger lobbed base, with a larger volume to match the large spout hole.  Possibly for loading an early musket or bigger bore rifle.  A Rev war centennial repair made if it was carried in that war. 

[Lindisfarne793]

Top Jaw,
   I love the speculation,  bud! It's half the fun of owning these things! I like your repair theory, especially because the plug has a different set of initials than the body. It's all very hard to see, though.

[Bull Shannon]

I'm a skeptic when it comes to most anything but my training and experience is in the area of forensic identification of a different mammal. As for this bovine related item, I'd offer this.
The coloration of the neck seems modern to me. When I enlarge the picture it seems like there are brush strokes from the dye being applied then drying before it could settle into a smooth, uniform coating. Then there is the base of the horn and here too, there doesn't seem to be any fading of the yellow coloration until you take a close look at the area between each tack, where the surface appears worn and the dye is coming off. To me, if the horn is indeed over 100 years old then the fading should be more uniform.

To me this looks like it's an old horn that was either reworked into a powder horn using modern dyes or a contemporary powder horn that was aged and dated to look old.

Does this prove anything? Heck no! It's just my opinion and I would love to be educated on the facts of the matter, if there are any.