Powder Horn; Lenaka La Mosidi

Item

Title

Powder Horn; Lenaka La Mosidi

Creator

Unrecorded

Description

Physical Description: Powder horn made from a cow's horn, decorated with raised ring round mouth and two rings below; zigzag dotted line between two lower rings; double line of dots ascending spirally from base to bottom ring; wooden base; Two iron wire staples let in horn for string attachment which functions as a carrying strap.
Contextual Description: NS 1:43:07It just says powder but I guess gunpowder

SL 1:43:13
depending on the dimension yeah no it's the... I think it's gunpowder

NS 1:43:18
Let me check the dimensions for you... 27 cm long

SL 1:43:22
That would be too much for snuff box. Yeah. And if you look at this

WT 1:43:29
But we can't use it for diviners to put in their...

SL 1:43:35
But the reason why I'm rushing to gunpowder is because it does resemble the horn that was used for gunpowder. Even this, what you call, leather strap here for holding it and that's ...the old guns, you had to like load it from the front and stamp down the powder. So you've got your store this is where you store the powder How can I describe it?

WT 1:44:14
But Scobie tell me... If this powder goes out of the gun and into you, was it going to kill you, the powder?

SL 1:44:22
No. What do you do okay give me a minute to explain how this thing was loaded you had a silver ball okay. ... and then compact your gunpowder add some other stuff ... leather or what? compact, even ... a bullet then some gunpowder [?] where the, where the flint goes. And then as you strike that thing [...] you get a spark, it burns the gunpowder and then [...] Yeah, it causes the explosion and it will propel the ball out

WT 1:45:02
So it was the ball that was sent to strike you, ok before, [all the gears?] how you propel the bullet

SL 1:45:11
It's like making your bullets, they're more than bullets actually because you have what they call the warhead or the top of the bullet that would be like strong metal. And then the case, and this is where the powder is pegged to, then it's compacted in that way. And then right there at the back of the bullet there is a spot where the firing pin will strike and cause that explosion and actually propel the warhead. You opened your gun and then the cartridge falls out. And then you put the fresh bullet into the chamber. You know, I know this from reading. I've never handled guns. I've never been to the army. I hate killing people. I hate them, guns, but I have to know how they work.

GK 1:46:12
But you know what they contain is meant just for the mosidi?

SL 1:46:16
There were [European hunters with powder horns], that's what he was trying to copy it was also like a horn like this you look at... you see those books and things, tracking, in the greatest…, those hunter things you find such powder containers. I think we have two similar gunpowder and ... gunpowder horns

WT 1:46:51
Hey Scobie, how do we find gunpowder horns amongst Batswana? Was it something that was borrowed from the...

SL 1:46:58
yeah It was actually... our people used to hunt with spears and things and then guns were introduced. They came with whatever, they came with them. People will always copy and try to invent [something] they can use.


The above notes are from a transcription by Kathleen Lawther of a discussion between Gase Kediseng, JoAnn McGregor, Nicola Stylianou, Scobie Lekhuthile and Winani Thebele which took place at the Khama III Memorial Museum on the 5th of August 2019. To listen to the full recording please follow the link below.

Publisher

Making African Connections

Date

Pre 1899

Type

PhysicalObject

Format

Whole: 272 mm x 70 mm
Horn; Wood; Metal

Identifier

R4007/94

Source

Collected by Reverend William Charles Willoughby, a Christian missionary, in what was then the Bechuanaland Protectorate (1885-1966). It is now the Republic of Botswana, having gained independence from Britain in 1966.
From 1889-92 Willoughby was pastor at Union Street Church, Brighton (now The Font pub). From 1893 to 1898 he worked for the London Missionary Society in Bechuanaland. He assembled this collection of objects during this period. This was a period of social and technological changes and these objects represent traditional lifestyles and skills, rather than the contemporary lives of the people Willoughby met.

Willoughby's collection was loaned to Brighton Museum in 1899 when he returned to the UK. The loan was converted into a donation in 1936, and accessioned as acquisition R4007.

Some objects were re-numbered with the WA (World Art) numbering system in the 2000s. These numbers have been reverted to the original R4007/... numbers where possible for consistency in 2019.
William Charles Willoughby
Botswana, Southern Africa, Africa
1893-1898

Space/Place

Botswana, Southern Africa, Africa

Rights

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

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