Knights in Central Park | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Until the nineteenth century firearms were loaded by packing the gunpowder and metal ball down the muzzle of the barrel with a ramrod. Soldiers and hunters carried their gunpowder in small flasks or powder horns. Many powder horns were decorated by their owners, but this one was engraved by a New York artist named Jacob Gay.

Powder Horn, 1759; made by Jacob Gay (recorded 1758–1787); American (New York); cowhorn; L. 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm); The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Collection of J. H. Grenville Gilbert, of Ware, Massachusetts, Gift of Mrs. Gilbert, 1937 (37.131.4)

The artist engraved this powder horn with a map of the Hudson River valley and the forts from Albany to the Great Lakes, the British coat of arms, and the name of the owner, Jotham Bemus. Click the magnifying glass to get a closer look.

Do you make art to relax during stressful times? Many early American powder horns were made from cow horns and decorated by soldiers during the campaigns of the French and Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812.

Photograph Credits