January 16, 2020 The Susquehanna Collection
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/16/2020
This very well documented powder horn is pictured on pages 196-197 of "Folk Art of Early America, The Engraved Powder Horn" by Jim Dresslar. It is also shown in "Engraved Powder Horns from the Collection of James E. Routh, Jr." from the exhibition in the Georgia Museum in March of 2000. The powder horn measures about 17" in length with a tapered body and bulbous spout section with a large relief ring at the tip. There is another relief ring closer to the engraved section. The engraved portion has a scalloped edge and depicts folk art Germanic designs including a man smoking a long pipe, a Georgian house, foliate and floral motifs and scrolls, a ring near the top in inscribed "FRIETRICH LEPPERT 1782". The neatly engraved eight-line inscription is entirely in German and translates to "When mine hour has come I shall go my way to Lord Jesus Christ. He will not allow my soul, which I entrust to His keeping, to go unaccompanied on my last journey". The convex wooden plug retains an early coat of red paint and is inscribed with a large "M" in the center. There is a horn flange for sling attachment, which is decorated with a scalloped edge. It is also believed that Frietrich Leppert was also the engraver of this horn, as another example in this sale is done by the same hand and is also dated 1782 and signed "FL". The names of both men on the horns appear on the roster of the Tryon County Militia 1st Regiment. Both fought in the Herkimer's Battle in 1777, also known as the Battle of Oriskany, named for the swampy creek flowing into the Mohawk River six miles below Fort Stanwicks. The horn is complete with a file of information, including a handwritten note signed by Jim Routh, dated 1986; information on Leppert; copies of books listing him in the New York Revolutionary War records; a handwritten letter from Walter O'Connor discussing the three known horns engraved by Frietrich Leppert; and copies of a book showing that Leppert and Schreibber are both listed as prisoners of war during the Revolution and listing them both as members of Camp Bell's regiment of the Tryon County Militia. PROVENANCE: Ex James E. Routh, Jr. Collection.