An elegant powder horn with cream-colored body shading to a greenish brown toward the spout and classic York County form with domed base plug and parallel incised lines around circumference of the horn and the plug, along with a nicely turned neck fitted with a simple, small plug still in place. The bottom edge of the horn is circled by two incised parallel lines. These are mirrored in the lathe turning of the base plug, which has two deep grooves running around it creating a raised edge just below the edge of the horn, and which also has two more, lightly incised lines below it. The very bottom of the rounded plug is similarly turned with light incised lines and then two deeper ones to create a border for a step up to the top mound which is countersunk and fitted with and iron staple for one end of a carrying strap that would be secured to the other staple at the neck. The wood plug shows some small chips, scratches and some hairlines, but has nice color, tone and surface.

A short length of twisted black and gold cord with an acorn end is still with it, attached to the upper staple and tied in the middle with a loop, clearly indicating it was used to hang the horn on a peg or on the wall. This is a Grand Army of the Republic Civil War veteran’s hat cord. Either the horn’s owner or someone else in the household saw service in the Union army.

These powder horns are as quintessentially American as the Pennsylvania-Kentucky rifles they often accompanied. Where European horns were often flattened or reshaped for ornamentation, fit for use by the upper classes to which hunting was restricted, hunting was a necessity for everyone on the expanding American frontier and while their horns might be decorated, much of their beauty lies in their more subtle architectural form. This is a very pleasing example of a classic American art form. [sr]  [ph:L]

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