Master Thomas der Schwertfeger (possibly Thomas Rucker) - Priming Flask Bearing the Monograms and Arms of the Prince-Elector August I of Saxony (reigned 1553–86) and Anna of Denmark (reigned 1553–85) - German, probably Saxony

Title: Priming Flask Bearing the Monograms and Arms of the Prince-Elector August I of Saxony (reigned 1553–86) and Anna of Denmark (reigned 1553–85)

Iron-chiseler: Master Thomas der Schwertfeger (possibly Thomas Rucker) (German, active Augsburg, Vienna, and Dreseden, 1535–1606)

Date: ca. 1575

Geography: possibly Saxony

Culture: German, probably Saxony

Medium: Iron, gold, silver, silk

Dimensions: H. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); D. 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm); Diam. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm); Wt. 10.7 oz. (303 g)

Classification: Firearms Accessories-Flasks & Primers

Credit Line: Gift of Laird Landmann and Kathleen Kinney Landmann, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2023

Object Number: 2023.580.6

Inscription: Chiseled within a medallion: [two letters A inverted and superimposed] (the monogram of Prince-Elector August I of Saxony (r. 1553–86), and his wife Anna of Denmark); etched on the rounded molding at the base of the nozzle: PRVN; one side of the nozzle cap: AB.

Baron Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild, Vienna (by 1903–d. 1905; by descent to his brother); Baron Albert Salomon von Rothschild, Vienna (1905–d. 1911; by descent to his son); Baron Alphonse von Rothschild, Vienna (1911–38; seized by the Nazis in 1938); inventoried in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (1939; inv. AR 2707a, b, c, restituted to the heirs of Baron Alphonse, his widow, Clarice von Rothschild in 1947); Baroness Clarice von Rothschild (née Sebag-Montefiore), Vienna (1947–49; sold, possibly through Leopold Blumka, to Kindig); [Joseph Kindig Jr., York, PA, 1949–d. 1971; by inheritance to his son]; [Joseph Kindig III, York, PA, 1971–late 1970s or early 1980s; traded to Petry]; [Raymond Petry, Uwchland, PA, late 1970s or early 1980s–2018; sold to Landmann]; Laird Landmann, California (2018–23; his gift to MMA).

Cody, WY. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center. "The Sumptuous Flaske: European and American Decorated Powder Flasks of the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries," March 1–June 8, 1989, no. 1 (lent by Raymond Petry).

New York. Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc. "The Sumptuous Flaske: European and American Decorated Powder Flasks of the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries," July 18–September 1, 1989, no. 1.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Emperors, Artists & Inventors: Transformative Gifts of Fine Arms and Armor," December 21, 2020–February 21, 2022.

Milan. Gallerie d’Italia. "From the Medici to the Rothschilds. Patronage and the Collections of Great Bankers," November 17, 2022–March 26, 2023.

Rothschild Nathaniel Mayer Baron. Notizen über einige meiner Kunstgegenstände. Vienna, 1903. p. 59, no. 120.

Houze, Herbert G. The Sumptuous Flaske: European and American Decorated Powder Flasks of the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries. Cody, WY: The Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 1989. no. 1, ill. (lent by Raymond Petry).

Lillie, Sophie. Was einmal war: Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens. Bibliothek des Raubes; Bd. 8. Vienna: Czernin, 2003. p. 1089, no. 2707 a–c.

Bantz, Jennifer, Kayla Elam, Anne Blood Mann, and Briana Parker, eds. Gifts of Art: The Met's 150h Anniversary. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. p. 181.

Mazzocca, Fernando, and Sebastian Schütze. Dai Medici ai Rothschild: Mecenatismo e Collezionismo dei Grandi Banchieri. Milan: Edizioni Gallerie d'Italia, 2022. pp. 292, 298–99, no. IX.10, ill.