Description: Powder horn inscribed "Colonel Nathan Payson..." of Hartford, Connecticut, which is attributed to the Memento Mori carver (w. 1756-1760). This is an early horn by the Memento Mori Carver. It does not have the more elongated crosshatched curves decorating the cartouche, but it does have a shaded saw-tooth design in that location. Borders consisting of large triangles surround both plug end and throat. At the base the design has two rows of triangles. Surmounting this is a row of diamonds, and engraved around the base is the carver's signature, Memento Mori. At the throat of the horn is a human face in profile with a long-stemmed clay pipe in its mouth. It is also decorated with a continuous map from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry with sketches of forts and fortifications in between. The stopper contains a piece of antler. Nathan Payson started out as a major and captain of the 4th company in Major General Phineas Lymans 1st Conn. regiment during the 1755 Campaign and served in every one after that through the 1760 campaign when he was apponted lieutenant colonel and captain. Payson died in Hartford on April 17, 1761 without seeing active service that year.
Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2005.20.18 |