Cartridge Box

Description Beginning in the 1500s, pre-measured, paper-wrapped charges were used by foot soldiers and cavalry. They were carried in special, water-resistant containers. Boxes of this type were worn on the front of the thigh for easy access by a horseman reloading his wheel-lock firearm. The embossed relief of two Turks fighting was created by the repoussé technique (hammering from the back).

Provenance Clements; Henry Griffith Keasbey, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, American Art Association, New York, December 5, 1924, no. 21; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1924 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1924