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Lot Essay
This fine engraved horn commemorates the British victory over the French at Quebec in 1759. The key positions and scenery in the the narrative are all lettered with a key: B. 'POINT LEVY'; C. 'WOLFES CAMP'; D. [A French fire ship? in the St Lawrence]; E. [The St Lawrence and] 'ILLAND OF ORLENS; F. [Lower Town]; G. The Citadel and Upper Town]; H. 'MONTCALMS CAMP'.
Point Levy (B) opposite the town was where Wolfe's gunners sited their batteries; Wolfe's Camp and his artillery positions (C) were originally at Montmorency (and Montcalm repulsed Wolfe's attack from here on 31 July). The final camp before the Battle of the Plains on 13 September 1759 was on the Plains of Abraham; The French deployed fire ships (D) on 30 June and 27 July during the siege, to try and destroy the British fleet - the British managed to tow them out of harm's way); E. The St Lawrence River was key to the British victory, the Royal Navy uniquely able to mount ambitious amphibious operations. The British Fleet was anchored between the Island of Orleans and the south shore of the river, and were later able to pass through the narrow waterway between Quebec and Point Levy to deliver Wolfe's army to a landing place a mile west of the city walls, the Anse au Foulon, where Howe's advance guard surprised the French, and enabled the British army to climb up onto the Plains of Abraham to confront Montcalms's forces (H).
For a similar engraved horn, see Christie's New York, 10 April 2012, lot 50 ($68,500). The latter was discussed in some detail by its previous owner, Robert T. Lyon, in his article "The Military Map Powder Horn of the Siege of Quebec" published in The Gun Report, April 1976.
The climax of the French and Indian War, the battle settled the fate of the French empire in America. The British capture of Quebec led to the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which gave Great Britain all French territory east of the Mississippi River. Engraved powder horns were considered the great trophy and souvenir of service in the French and Indian War by British officers and troops. A number of them exist showing the theatre of operations from New York to Albany across the Mohawk Valley to Lake Ontario and north through Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence.
Point Levy (B) opposite the town was where Wolfe's gunners sited their batteries; Wolfe's Camp and his artillery positions (C) were originally at Montmorency (and Montcalm repulsed Wolfe's attack from here on 31 July). The final camp before the Battle of the Plains on 13 September 1759 was on the Plains of Abraham; The French deployed fire ships (D) on 30 June and 27 July during the siege, to try and destroy the British fleet - the British managed to tow them out of harm's way); E. The St Lawrence River was key to the British victory, the Royal Navy uniquely able to mount ambitious amphibious operations. The British Fleet was anchored between the Island of Orleans and the south shore of the river, and were later able to pass through the narrow waterway between Quebec and Point Levy to deliver Wolfe's army to a landing place a mile west of the city walls, the Anse au Foulon, where Howe's advance guard surprised the French, and enabled the British army to climb up onto the Plains of Abraham to confront Montcalms's forces (H).
For a similar engraved horn, see Christie's New York, 10 April 2012, lot 50 ($68,500). The latter was discussed in some detail by its previous owner, Robert T. Lyon, in his article "The Military Map Powder Horn of the Siege of Quebec" published in The Gun Report, April 1976.
The climax of the French and Indian War, the battle settled the fate of the French empire in America. The British capture of Quebec led to the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which gave Great Britain all French territory east of the Mississippi River. Engraved powder horns were considered the great trophy and souvenir of service in the French and Indian War by British officers and troops. A number of them exist showing the theatre of operations from New York to Albany across the Mohawk Valley to Lake Ontario and north through Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence.