A silver priming flask, Ottoman Empire, 19th century

Philippe Missillier Collection, no.92C

A similar silver-gilt powder horn in the State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, from the collection of Prince Pyotr Saltykov, decorated with filigree and set with carved corals and enamels, is attributed to Albania and dated to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century (inv. no.V.O.-1678; Obraztsov 2015, pp.202-3). Another silver powder horn set with coral, a gift of Algerian ambassador, was presented to the Prince Regent in 1819 (Anderson 2014, pp.136-7, no.CH2879). Two related Algerian powder horns are in the Wallace Collection (inv. nos.OA2024 and OA2138). Neither have the filigree and granulation decorating this and the Hermitage examples. Parallels can be drawn to Ottoman personal jewellery. Silver-gilt filigree and granulation work set with corals and other gems is found on a series of belt buckles or waist clasps widely used across the Ottoman empire including the Balkans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A waist clasp of this type is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.174-1896).