Antique gunpowder reserve in engraved bone and forged iron, made in one of those flourishing workshops active in the South of Germany during the seventeenth century.
This work has a central bone body, engraved with a young man leaning on a pike, looking at a soldier with a lance and in the saddle of an elephant. Foliage and finely engraved geometric fret patterns frame this scene as if an observer could look at the figures from inside a garden adorned by drapes.
This scene was notably used by engravers working in German armorers’ workshops, who often created those scenes to decorate armors and shields; they made in this way a unique specimen together with the defensive suits of armors and their accessories.
This work has a dosing spout on its upper part, made of forged iron and decorated by twisted motifs, accessorized with a closing spring. This last merges with the bone part through an iron crown realized with geometric motifs and embellished by an engraved iron string.
This gunpowder flask is well-preserved and represents an essential addition to the catalog of firearms accessories made in Germany during the seventeenth century.