IS THIS A PERSIAN POWDER FLASK ?
 

Ive been told this is a Persian powder flask , whats your opinion please ,
it measures 13cm in length
thanks

I don't believe that this is a powderflask because the thread of its stopper, at least I have never seen a powderflask with such a detail.
corrado26

Hi Chief

While it could have been used to carry powder, I agree with Corrado here. It would take too long to retrieve the powder with a screw cap. Especially if needing to re-load for a second shot.

In any case, it is certainly a neat looking flask. I have no clue as to it's origin.
What is the approximate length and diameter ?

Rick

It does not look Persian and I doubt it is a powder flask. Whatever it is it looks more European to me.--bbjw

hi rick , thanks for your reply , I'm thinking along the same line as maybe to carry powder but then I could be miles off and its for something entirely different ,its 13cm long and only 3.4 cm at the widest point , I would love to know what it was for , its very well made and shows good age and ware .
all the best
chief

I would guess its a bell-pull, or something similar.

hi there , I can see where your coming from , but then why would they make it hollow with a screw stopper and an attached carrying ring on the side ?
thanks for your input
regards
chief

It's Indian.
It reminds me these little bronze fishes.

My bet, would be on it being a snuff (powdered tobacco) flask.

It may also be one of the many trinkets from the Victorian Period. Small metal purses, containers, etc. were all the rage back then. But they were usually from low grade silver. This container appears to be iron. (?)

Rick

Hello,
for me, old european holy water container,
often associated with rosary

Hi Rick,

As I said I think it's Indian and it's made of brass.
You have hundred of them on the web.
They are called Mughal powder flasks or perfume flasks.
I don't know if they are old or not, but they have nothing to do with Mughal or powder flasks...

I think this is the same type of item with unknown use.
corrado26

LOL!!! Well, there's those fish again. LOL :D I also believe these small containers - with SCREW caps - were made to carry something other than priming powder. It would simply be inconvienant and take too long unscewing a cap versus simply pulling out a plug or pushing on a lever to get access to the powder.
While screw style plugs are not unknown, they only seem to appear on European styled powder horns - for sporting purposes. And even then, they are seldom encountered unless made sometime during the 20th Century.
So I think the originally posted flask above falls into the same catagory as the fish shaped flasks posted by Kubur and Corrado. And if brass, probably of Indian origin.

As a comparison, here is a fish shaped, painted wood flask that does look old. I picked this up from Oriental Arms. Artzi says it's likely of South Indian origin. I ran a long Q-Tip through the flask mouth, and rubbing around produced a small evidence of black powder. So I think this one was used for priming a matchlock of some type. Notice the mouth of the flask was made for a plug, now missing.

Still, I like the design of the flask originally posted. Would clean up very nice.

Rick