September 29, 2021 The Bill Myers Collection
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/29/2021
This powder horn is featured on pages 162-163 of "Folk Art of Early America: The Engraved Powder Horn" By Jim Dresslar and on pages 44 and 71 of "Steel Canvas" by R.L. Wilson. It is also shown on pages 166-167 of "Accouterments II" by James R. Johnston and was also published on pages 3-11 of the Kentucky Rifle Association Newsletter in winter of 1986. The horn is accompanied by an extensive, detailed and well researched archive of military records and genealogy of both men listed on the horn, Jason Fenn and Amos Dunbar. Both fought in the Revolutionary War. Jason Fenn was born in 1751 in Plymouth, Connecticut. Jason was a volunteer enlisting in April of 1775 at the first call as a Minute Man in the Revolutionary War. He was sergeant in the 8th Company under Captain Phineas Porte's 1st Connecticut Regiment under Colonel David Wooster. On July 4, 1776 he re-enlisted in Captain Jotham Curtis' militia company in Waterbury for eight months as a sergeant. He died in Plymouth, Connecticut in 1819, where he is buried. The horn is also accompanied by a series of black and white photographs of this horn on his gravestone at Old Burying Ground in Plymouth Center with memorial stone at Hillside at family plot. Amos Dunbar was born in 1751. He enlisted in Captain Smith's Company between May 9, 1777 and April 19, 1779. From May through September of 1777, he camped with his regiment at Peekskill, New York. On October 4, 1777 he fought in the Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania and was attached to Varnum's Brigade. Between December 1777 and June 1778 he was at Valley Forge, part of the time on detached duty. On June 24, 1778 he was present at the Battle of Monmouth. Between July 1778 and August 1778 he was attached to Huntington's Brigade in White Plains, New York. In October 1778, he is listed on a roll in New Milford, Connecticut. Then, between November 1778 and April 19, 1779, when he was discharged, he was stationed in Redding, Connecticut. He died in 1809. The horn itself measures 18-1/2" overall and has a faceted spout section followed by a scalloped relief ring, then another faceted section below. The main body has a scalloped top edge and is engraved with the inscription "IASON FENN HIS HORN/MADE BY AMOS DUNBAR/MARCH 4th AD 1777 FROM THIS DAY/Success to America". Above the inscription is "GREEDY OF GAIN" with a flying goose behind a large three-masted ship of war displaying 41 cannons. In front of the ship is a large and detailed catfish. There is also a flock of six geese flying in "V" formation and a stone tavern with a rooster atop the tavern sign and a horse tied outside. There is also a colonial gentleman in a tricornered hat standing next to a man shooting a flintlock at an owl perched on a tree branch. The recessed pressure fit wooden plug has a recessed mirror surrounded by chip carving. The horn flange for strap attachment is not absent. CONDITION: Very good, main body retains a pleasing honey patina. There are a couple minor hairline age cracks at the spout. Horns signed by the maker, especially when both the engraver and owner saw action in the Revolutionary War, are extremely rare. DMG