Rifle Powder Flask

Rifle Powder Flask – Inventory Number: FIR 189

Mid-19th century copper powder flask. Powder flasks were essential accessories for muzzle-loading firearms, used to carry and dispense black powder into the barrel before loading a bullet.

The body of this flask is made of embossed copper, featuring a woodland scene that was popular in civilian and hunting-themed designs of the period. The central design shows a hunter resting beneath a tree, with a dog laying beside him, a deer lying in the foreground, and hunting gear such as a game bag and powder horn hanging from the tree branches. These decorative elements reflect the pastoral and rugged outdoor lifestyle admired in 19th-century America.

The top is fitted with a brass spout and lever-style powder measure, which allowed for measured charges of black powder to be poured directly into a firearm’s barrel or powder chamber.

Such flasks were used with rifles and muskets and could have seen use by both soldiers and sportsmen. This particular example, with its sentimental hunting motif and relatively ornate construction, suggests it may have belonged to a civilian or officer rather than a common infantryman.

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Inventory Number: FIR 189