Limited Edition

Throughout history, in the making
of gunpowder flasks used to carry
gunpowder - an important element of
firearms - forms such as horns, gourds,
scabbard tips and various materials
such as leather, metal, bone and wood
have been used. Fundamentally made
up of a receptacle and an opening,
the functionality of the gunpowder
flask was their most important feature
at first; over time, they have been
improved in terms of both shape and
function, and eventually each one has
emerged as a work of art. Some of the
examples of gunpowder flasks used in
the Ottoman period are a part of the
collection at the Military Museum in
Istanbul.
The motifs on the Cihan Gunpowder
Horn Object draw their inspiration
from the so-called saz style, an
ornamentation technique dating back
to the 14th-16th century Ottoman
period. This technique, flourished to
its fullest glory in the mid-sixteenth
century, is characterized by the
depiction of serrated leaf foliage, and
overly stylized and ornate flowers and
buds drawn in the hatai* style often
paired with fantastic creatures including
dragons and simurghs; beast of prey
such as lions, and tigers; birds such as
pheasants and cranes; and bodily forms
of human, angel, and fairy figures.
Some of the gunpowder flasks that
are taken out of Turkey in various
questionable ways or presented as gifts are now exhibited at the museums like
Davids Samling Museum in Copenhagen,
Denmark and the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York, USA.
Cihan Gunpowder Horn Object is
produced from handmade smoke
glass and all of the relief patterns are
decorated with 24-carat gold, gilt and
antiquated paints.
The production of the Cihan Gunpowder Horn Object is limited to 2000 pieces.
*Hatai: is an Islamic ornamentation and
abstraction technique in which the patterns
are overly stylized, almost geometrical, where
petals of the floral shapes usually twist
inwards