Gunpowder Container Decorated with Inlaid Shell Pieces

The indigenous inhabitants of Taiwan began to use firearms and gunpowder around the middle of the Qing dynasty. Guns and gunpowder were mainly obtained through trade with the Han Chinese. At first, the indigenous Taiwanese mainly used matchlock rifles and carried the gunpowder in a small container. These containers might be made of bamboo, wood, ox horn, or some other material, but they mostly took the shape of a horn, so that the powder would not spill when it was poured into the barrel of the rifle. This gunpowder container is made from wood and exquisitely inlaid with shells in a geometric pattern.