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Stephen Hastings' Carved Powder HornShrewsbury, Massachusetts, dated November 14, 1754
US$7,000 - US$10,000
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Paul O'Hara
Sale Coordinator & Cataloguer

Christopher Fox
Director
Stephen Hastings' Carved Powder Horn
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, dated November 14, 1754
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, dated November 14, 1754
Overall lg. 16, dia. of base 3 1/2 in.
Footnotes
Provenance
By family descent from Stephen Hastings.
Note
This powder horn bears close similarity to the Levi Whitney, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, January 14, 1750, powder horn illustrated and describe in William Guthman, Drums A'beating, Trumpets Sounding, Artistically Carved Powder Horns in the Provincial Manner 1746-1781, (Hartford: The Connecticut Historical Society, 1993), pp. 82-84. Like the Whitney horn, Stephen Hasting's powder horn also exhibits the serpent motif described as the "Brazen Serpent," being a Biblical term from John 3:14-15 symbolizing the redemption of Christ. The similarity in style of lettering, and decoration between the two horns is unmistakable and are clearly the work of the same unidentified carver.
Stephen Hastings is documented as a Corporal in a Company of Foot commanded by Captain Jabez Beamen, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, on a roll dated April 7, 1757 (Massachusetts Archives Collection, Vol. 95, p. 255). It is interesting to note that the clerk of that company is a man named Jotham Bush. The famed African American carver John Bush who was himself a militia company clerk, was also from Shrewsbury and it is tempting to speculate that Jotham and John may have been related.




