Daniel Dwight’s Powder Horn

One of the most interesting genres of American art that survives from 18th century America is the engraved powder horn.  Horns fashioned for carrying gunpowder were supplied to military troops in both the French & Indian War and American Revolution.  Soldiers often engraved or carved designs on their horns, perhaps as a way of memorializing […]

Robert Fairchild and His Powder Horn

Powder horns are unique artifacts in that they have the ability to speak to a single person’s 18th-century military service unlike most other objects.  Muskets, swords, and other similar items, though important, are rarely able to connect people today nearly face-to-face with an individual person from the past.  What makes powder horns so interesting, and […]