An Indo-Portuguese Mother-of-Pearl Powder Horn, Gujurat, 17th/18th Century

La Suite Subastas, Barcelona, 23 February 2017, lot 61

Prior to the development of the modern bullet in the 19th century, gunpowder was an essential component of firearm ammunition and was generally carried in powder horns, often in the form of animal horns, which could be decorated with ornate metal mounts. Gujarat artists created horns using turbo shells with mother of pearl and metal mounts, seen for example on a pair of powder horns sold Christie's London, 7 October 2008, lot 262. They also produced as here horns made of wooden carcases in the form of shells and veneered with mother-of-pearl plaques attached with pins, the same technique used for ewers, dishes and other plate vessels.

An identical powder horn from the Krishna Riboud Collection, Paris, is illustrated in La Route des Indes, Bordeaux, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 1998, fig. 32 p.106 [fig.1].