CALIVERMAN's Powder Flasks and Their Leather Frogs, Nuremberg, ca. 1580-1620

[Matchlock]

A very good Nuremberg made caliverman's flask, the flattened cow horn body engraved with a characteristic scene all'antica, probably depicting Heracles and the Nemeic lion, the reverse inscribed 'I. Collone WITELSBACH', spelled with a doubling tilde above the n and T respectively, and referring to its provenance, the former Straubing arsenal of the Dukes (German: Herzöge) of Wittelsbach.
The belt hook and spring loaded nozzle cap are both missing.

Please note the crisp and highly contrasted state of preservation of the engraving. It is this perfectly retained original condition that actually separates the wheat from the chaff when a piece is chosen to enter a collection!
Take a few minutes and search the engraved cow horn flasks posted in this thread, just concentrating on the craftsmanship of their engraving and their state of preservation!

I took these photographs 25 years ago in the reserve collection of the Gäubodenmuseum of the City of Straubing, Lower Bavaria.


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