Description:
Powder horn inscribed: “JOHN ROCKWELL / Oswego Augt 5th 1760 / GARDEN / SEE WE FOOLS.” The Rockwell horn is attributed to the Memento Mori carver, who occasionally used script and signed his work with that phrase, which translated from the Latin means, “Reminder of Death.” He worked between 1756 and 1760 around Lakes George and Champlain, and at Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario where this horn was carved. His horns include a border around the plug that consists of a series of dotted or crosshatched lunettes or triangles. The cartouches surrounding the names and dates have a similar border. His depictions of maps and buildings are detailed, like the tents and garden here at Fort Oswego. Some horns have a head in profile with a pipe, or in this case, the Devil, uttering phrases like “Fools such as we,” a timeless comment on the soldier’s lot in life—and death. John Rockwell served from 1757 through 1762 in regiments from Connecticut.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2005.20.20

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