Old powder horn I picked up

[NDduckhunter]

I recently picked up this horn pretty cheaply I might add. I was drawn to the bird possibly a rail carved into it. It had a lot of amateurish carving done on it, much is worn off. Unfortunately it has no history attached and really don’t even know where it came from other than it was bought at an estate sale at some point. What do yall think about age and region? It is air tight still even with some bug damage and a perfect size for a hunting trip stowed in my bag.

[rich pierce]

Great find!

[NDduckhunter]

Thanks! It was less than $60 to boot lol.

[rich pierce]

I’d give you $70! 

Terrific find. I love these “owner decorated” horns.

[NDduckhunter]

lol, I sure would like to get an opinion on if it has east coast characteristics, I’ve seen a couple New England horns that are similar. I imagine it would be hard to put a finger on what region and era it was built. I too like the owner built/modified horns. There’s a standing duck on the other side but it has been mostly obliterated by wear.

[rich pierce]

Looks eastern to me though Great Lakes is a possibility. Overall style of decoration suggests 1800 or earlier to me.

[NDduckhunter]

Thanks for the feedback Rich!

[Tanselman]

I cannot see the wood plug clearly, but its low dome style and what appears to be a wide-grained soft wood, suggest an eastern origin. The small, long-legged bird with a long bill looks like some kind of a northern shore bird in the snipe school.

Shelby Gallien

[Tim Crosby]

 The bird looks like a Jack Snipe/Wood Cock to me. We had a lot of them back in Virginia.

    Tim

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.fdd5fa97095f56a21e0b9150bcb44803?rik=9f4y7ZlBMOKcrg&riu=http%3a%2f%2fblog.nwf.org%2fwp-content%2fblogs.dir%2f11%2ffiles%2f2012%2f03%2fWoodcock-Flickr-Chris_Barron.jpg&ehk=1q9kU3EmqIqiQfdIUj3nMezMXuMyEP6klYXUrs6vbxo%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

[old george]

I thought it looked like a "timberdoodle" myself.

george

[NDduckhunter]

It definitely could be, I think based on the bird, whether it’s a rail or a woodcock/snipe it lends itself to east coast origin though we will never know for sure. What do yall think the initials say about the horn. Is the shading style indicative of a certain time period?

[Tanselman]

The horn's dimensions are not posted, but it looks only moderate in size and simple in construction. Those facts suggest to me that it's a percussion era horn based on size, probably 1840s from its simplicity and not much later since it was decorated. Assuming a New England origin due to the soft wood butt plug, if the horn were earlier, I'd expect a touch more detail on it, such as simple chip carving round the lower edge of the spout tip. The owner was better than average at depicting birds; you can actually get an idea of what he was trying to show on this horn, when on a lot of carved horns, a bird is often a simple generic figure.

Shelby Gallien

[NDduckhunter]

Here’s a couple more pictures….

[rich pierce]

With that size it’s less likely to be an early horn. Super cool regardless of when it was made.

[NDduckhunter]

Very interesting stuff! I’ve heard bore size went down as the country expanded westward, is that the reason the horns became smaller?

[rich pierce]

Very interesting stuff! I’ve heard bore size went down as the country expanded westward, is that the reason the horns became smaller?

We can only guess. Smaller caliber guns, fewer muskets being loaded from the horns*, more places to re-supply, fewer people way out there for long periods, are my best guesses.

*I believe many of the large early horns were for muskets and big gauge fowlers and trade guns.