Cartridge box and powder flask with tubular spout, copper with white metal overlay, probably Ottoman
Two items of equipment: 1) Cartridge box, copper body, rectangular with curved lower edge, the hinged lid and the front with nailed-on, embossed white metal overlay with rosettes, fan motifs and framing lines, two iron carrying loops at the sides, on the reverse an applied white metal plate with an engraved nine-square grid, the fields marked with strokes, circles, a wavy line, a triangle and further signs, the interior undivided. 10.5x15.5x3 cm (HxWxD). 2) Powder flask, the round, flat copper body with engraved rosette and arcaded frieze on the reverse, the front with pierced, engraved white metal overlay over copper ground, two small wire loops at the sides, the long, straight tubular spout of brass with sliding ring, a stopper is not present. Diam. 10 cm, H. 16.5 cm. Condition commensurate with age, the copper stained and partly verdigrised, the overlays rubbed, the carrying loops rusty.
Cartridge box and powder flask formed part of the equipment of the muzzle-loader marksman and were worn on the belt or on the bandolier. The flat, round powder flask with long tubular spout and pierced metal overlay is a form widespread in the Ottoman world and in North Africa in the 19th century; the overlays were worked from thin sheet metal, engraved and nailed onto the body, so that the reddish ground remains visible through the piercings. The sheet-metal case of the box protected the paper cartridges from moisture.