General discussion > Antique Accoutrements
Bone Tipped Powder Horns
Tanselman:
Tim,
I added a photo to the last posting of the plug, looking directly into the screw hole. Hope it is what you were looking for. Shelby
Tim Crosby:
Here are a couple more of Jay's thoughts on the horn:
"With a butt diameter of roughly 2 1/2", that would take it out of the large rifleman category. They are usually closer to 3". It would also suggest the horn could have been from the first quarter 19th century rather than the 18th century, though there are clear exceptions to that generalization.
The screw appears to be a period repair. I have seen a number of good old horns with a large screw in the end as a fixation device but never one that I felt was original equipment. I don't see holes for a staple and there is no evidence of a dowel filling the hole. The present hole is not large enough for an applied knob- either threaded or press fit. So, the most likely is either an integral knob that broke off early and was smoothed and drilled for the screw or a furniture pull or ring that has a threaded stem. These were usually of brass and were used on small drawers of desks, etc. and were available I think a solid brass furniture pull would have looked right proportionately and would have been the most likely."
After seeing the end view:
"There does not appear to be a dowel or filler. There does appear to be some irregular lines on the surface which would suggest there was an integral knob that broke and then was filed flat and drilled. The hole is eccentric which I doubt would be the case with the original turner. Whatever was done was done a long time ago, probably during its period of active use."
Great horn.
Tim
Tanselman:
Tim, I think you and Jay are accurate in the evaluation of the horn. When I noted the plug's nose hole being visibly off-center, I came to the same conclusion you guys did. Thanks for all the comments on the horn. I enjoyed the discussions on the bone tipped horn. Shelby
mbriggs:
Hi Shelby,
I have a couple of thoughts to add on your wonderful new horn. The Piedmont area of North Carolina was first settled by a melting pot of people from different cultures. In my own Guilford County the Germans got here first in the 1740's as our three oldest churches are all Lutheran. The second group to arrive were Quakers. They founded a group of churches between 1751 and 1754 in Guilford, Alamance, and Randolph counties that became known as the Quaker crescent. Last to arrive were the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian who founded local two churches in the 1760's.
The local Quakers migrated here from three areas, the Delaware valley of Pennsylvania, Nantucket Island, and Northeastern North Carolina. The vast majority of local gunsmiths who worked in the Early Deep River School and the much larger and later Jamestown School were Quakers.
There were three mass migrations of our local Quakers out to Indiana. The first was in the 1820's. The second was prior to the Civil War as most of our local Quakers were abolitionist. The last group left between 1866 and 1870 due to the effects on the local economy from Reconstruction. When they left they took as many of their local decorative art items with them including Longrifles and Powder Horns.
A number of our local gunsmiths were included in these migrations to Indiana. Early Deep River gunsmiths David Grose and Robert H. Polk moved there from Guilford County. Later Jamestown gunsmiths Isaac Jones moved in there in 1838, Anderson C. Ledbetter in the 1850's and Henry Wright and Evan Johnson moved there after the Civil War.
Howard Kendall has a wonderful collection of Banded, Bee-hived, and bone tipped horns. The majority were made in North Carolina. He found most of them in Indiana.
Thanks,
Michael
Tanselman:
Michael,
I enjoyed your response...probably explains why northern Indiana has so many Amish farms and folks, from the Ohio line going west for about 2/3 of the distance across the state...which includes Spencerville on the St. Marys River just north of here where the horn came from, out of an old farm estate sale. Shelby
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