A Mughal Indian ivory powder flask with Portuguese-colonial silver mounts
The flask is in the form of morphing wild animals, one end ending in the form of a goat, the other of an Indian blackbuck. On the side decorated with a hunting tiger and prey. Along the middle there is a beautiful silver mount possibly covering an old break.
L. approx. 20 cm
Provenance:
Private collection, Lisbon
The powder flask (also known as a priming flask) was an essential firearm accessory and held the fine powder needed to make the gun fire. Gunmakers in India during the Mughal era (1526-1858) specialized in carving ivory powder flasks with animal figures.
Often the decoration consists of intertwined and composite creatures that seem to grow out of or attack one another. Many of these animals were regularly hunted (or used for hunts, as with the elephant), in Mughal India.
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