Engraved Powder Horn

Description:

Engraved Powder Horn, c. 1762, the powder horn with recessed throat with raised ring, above engraving with inscription "MARCH ye A 1762 CROWN POINT STEPHEN DYAR," surrounded by one, two, and three-masted vessels flying British flags, the pentagon-shaped Fort Crown Point, and an assortment of sea creatures, a serpent, a compass, foliage, and geometric borders, carved wooden butt plug, (minor chips and cracks on butt edge),lg. 11 5/8 in.

Note: A genealogical search included with the powder horn indicates that Stephen Dyar (Dyer, Dier) was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, October 20, 1741, to Joseph and Jane (Stephens [Stevens]) Dyar. A gentleman by the name of Joseph Bickel(l) may have been the guardian of Stephen Dyar. He married Leah Bate(s) October 25, 1764. In the Boston State House archives, it was recorded he was enlisted several times of a company in His Majesty's service in the years between 1758 and 1761. In the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution, Dyar was enlisted as a Minute-man in various lengths of service between April 19 1775 and April 26, 1778.

Also of note: Fort Crown Point, first constructed by the French between 1731 and 1734, was strategically built halfway between Montreal and Albany at the far south end of Lake Champlain, to protect the southern reaches of New France from British colonial expansion. During the French and Indian War in the 1750s, part of Crown Point and neighboring installations were the targets of five attempts by the British to gain control of Lake Champlain from the French. They did not succeed until it was evacuated by the French and mostly destroyed by fire in 1759. It was then claimed by the British and rebuilt in the form of a pentagon. After the conquest of Canada in 1760, Crown Point was garrisoned by British troops until May 10, 1774, when it was captured by American revolutionists.
Estimate $3,000-5,000

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