Ivory powder horn with carved decoration
date: label: Date
content: 18th century; engraved after 1861
name: label: Created by
content: Unidentified
notes: label: Description
content: A powder horn with scrimshaw decorations. The powder horn shaft is made from cow horn. On one side of the horn's base, there is an engraved illustration of a seated African American officer smoking a cigar inside a tent, guarded by a white soldier in a tattered uniform. The text underneath the image reads: [Negro officer / & / White Soldier]. On the reverse side of the powder horn is an engraving of an African American man dancing with a white woman. The African American man is wearing trousers but no shirt, and the woman is wearing a long-sleeved dress with her long hair pulled back into a bun. The text above the image reads: [New England Ladies / teaching Negroes]. These images are surrounded by decorative, architectural borders. Most engraved areas appear to have been colored with an iron-based substance, possibly iron gall ink, and the surface of the horn appears yellow, whether by age or artificial coloration. The circumference of the base has jagged edges, with some remaining peg holes through which pegs or nails would have been placed to secure the base, although none remain. A replacement circular wooden butt plug is glued into the base. The narrow end of the powder horn is carved, turned, and colored dark brown. Originally it would have been closed with a peg or stopper, now missing.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Education
label: Topic
content: Emancipation
label: Topic
content: Folklife
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Ornamentation
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Weapons and Ammunition
label: Exhibition
content: Double Victory: The African American Military Experience
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Community/Third Floor, 3 053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Marion T. Lane, Ed.D.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.247.3
objectType: label: Type
content: powder horns
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: horn and wood
label: Dimensions
content: L x diameter x weight: 10 1/2 × 3 1/16 in., 152Grams (26.7 cm, 0.2 kg)