- Title
- Powder Primer Flask (baruddan)
- Date Made
- circa 1700-25
- Medium
- Mottled gray nephrite jade inlaid with spinels and clear gemstones set in gold, gilt copper alloy fittings
- Dimensions
- 5 1/2 x 2 x 1 in. (13.97 x 5.08 x 2.54 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.76.2.9a-b
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This primer flask is fashioned in the traditional powder horn shape that tapers to a narrow end for dispensing the powder. It is made of mottled gray nephrite jade inlaid with a border of spinels around the rim of the container body adjacent to the gilt end cap, which has a jade terminal in the form of a lotus bud. The flask has gilt copper alloy fittings consisting of a stopper lever and two hinged suspension loops, all enlivened with intricate floral and vine motifs. The ends of the gilt swivel connecting to the jade hanging flange are embellished with clear gemstones set in star mounts. The jade surface is decorated with veined acanthus leaves at both ends and spiral ribs for ease of handling.
Powder primer flasks were used to prime the flashpan and touchhole of early muskets. The weapons were fired by igniting the priming powder, in turn detonating the charge powder, which was loaded from larger containers known as powder horns. South Asian primer flasks are made of a variety of materials, including ivory, jade, nautilus shells, and ibex horns. Numerous ivory primer flasks survive, but jade examples are considerably rarer. Ivory primer flasks fashioned in the shape of an antelope and decorated with lively hunting scenes are significant for being among the earliest Mughal decorative objects known to have reached Europe. Stylistic relationships with paintings and extant drawings of primer flasks suggest that pictorial artists may have participated in their design.
- Selected Bibliography
- Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
Pal, Pratapaditya, Thomas W. Lentz, Sheila R. Canby, Edwin Binney, 3rd, Walter B. Denny, and Stephen Markel. "Arts from Islamic Cultures: Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 17, no. 6 (November/December 1987): 73-130.
