Powder Horn, 1775

Powder horns carried gunpowder for muzzle-loading guns. Horn was easy to decorate with simple tools; some were decorated professionally, others by their owners. This powder horn was elaborately decorated by its owner, Elisha Gathel of Vassalborough, Maine. Horn decoration could be useful, such as maps, while other horn decoration was fanciful, such as Gathel's mildly ribald verse and drawings.