Powder Horn

ClassificationsArms and Armor-powder containers

Cultureprobably Miao

Datelate 19th to early 20th Century

Made AtChina, Asia

MediumWood

Dimensionsa,b: 4 3/8 × 9 7/8 × 2 1/4 in. (11.1 × 25.1 × 5.7 cm)
a: 4 3/8 × 8 3/8 × 2 1/4 in. (11.1 × 21.3 × 5.7 cm)
b: 1 1/8 × 3 1/8 × 1 in. (2.9 × 7.9 × 2.5 cm)

Credit LineAnonymous Gift

Object number2020.8.26a,b

DescriptionWooden powder horn made by the Miao culture of China’s Guizhou province during the Qing dynasty. Once a weapon of choice for hunting among most Miao peoples, guns were outlawed in China in the middle of the 20th century. One of the few exceptions to this rule is use by traditional Miao hill tribes for whom the use of black powder muskets in hunting is intimately tied to their identity. When guns were more prominently used, ornately carved gunpowder horns such as this would have been used by affluent Miao men to reload their weapons. Both the geometric and bird motifs on this object were common features of Miao design, with birds perhaps the most visited motif in Miao art.

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