This c. 1830s-1850s mahogany powder magazine has a red label inside the lid reading "SUPERFINE/CYLINDER GUN-POWDER/made by Curtis's & Harvey,/(W.G. HARVEY Late of BATTLE)/HOUNSLOW HEATH,/AND//LONDON." Two powder tins with brass fittings are inside along with an old receipt and a key. Sir William Curtis and W.G. Harvey purchased the gunpowder works at Hounslow in 1820 per the Royal Armouries which estimated a similarly marked powder can in their collection dated to prior to 1859. "Cylinder Gun-Powder" refers to powder made using charcoal from wood heated in iron cylinders rather than made in pits (see p. 29 of "The Science of Gunnery" by William Greener). A similar earlier powder magazine is shown on pages 18 and 19 of British Gunmakers: Their Trade Cards, Cases and Equipment, 1760-1860 by W. Keith Neal & D.H.L. Back in their "Powder Magazines" chapter, and this example is similar to the Samuel Nock marked powder magazine also from Norman R. Blank's collection sold by Rock Island Auction Co. in December 2024.
Condition: Very fine with generally minor age and storage related wear.
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