Priming Flask

Description The small curved section of horn is polished to imitate ivory. One side is engraved with a classical bust and the other with the arms of Fradel (Brabant or Holland), impaled with those of Frays or Grubel of Bavaria, and the date "1763." The remainder of the flask is decorated with leaf scrolls, and the spout with a pine-cone pattern. The base shows a mountain landscape. All of the engraved lines have been blackened. The suspension ring and spring-stopper are iron.

Provenance Karl Thewalt Collection, Cologne [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, November 14, 1903, lot 1743; Henry G. Keasbey, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, American Art Association, New York, December 5, 1924, lot 37; Henry Walters, Baltimore 1924, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1924