$21,330
Engraved Powder Horn, Fort No. 4, New Hampshire, c. 1757, the horn inscribed "Benjamin Bellows Jun'r/His Horn made at No. 4/August 30th 1757," below a verse reading: "Tis Beft abroad with for[ei]gn foes to fight/And not at Home to feel their Hatefull fpite/Where all our friends of e'ery fex and age/Would be Expof'd unto their cruel Rage," ornamented with stylized floral, scrolled foliate, and geometric designs with a recessed throat with raised ring near the tip, the pine plug centered with an iron staple is fastened to the horn with wooden pegs, lg. approx. 17 1/2 in. Provenance: Family descent. Note: This horn belonged to Benjamin Bellows, Jr., the son of Colonel Benjamin Bellows, who was born on May 26, 1712, in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He served in the British army in several of the wars against the French in North America. He was also a skilled surveyor and surveyed most of the towns on both sides of the Connecticut River granted by Massachusetts Governor Benning Wentworth. He was purported to have held title to some 9,000 acres in Vermont and New Hampshire at the time of his death in 1777. The town of Bellows Falls, Vermont, was named after him although he lived across the Connecticut River in Walpole, New Hampshire. Benjamin Bellows married Abigail Stearns on October 7, 1736, and together they had eight children. Literature: This horn bears similar design elements to the Lake George School of horn decoration, executed during the French and Indian War (1755-1 Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2009-02-15
