One of Two Tinder bags

PART OF:
Bryant and May collection of fire-making appliances.
Made:
Bow and Bow and

[One of] Two Tinder bags, each in form of a pocket (length 2 3/8 ins), of dark brown leather; flap kept closed by a button of knotted leather; edges sewn with a narrow strip of green parchment; one contains flint (a gun-flint), the other tinder (amadou); one has pipe-prick (its head serving as pipe-stopper) screwed into steel; 19th century; probably English-made. West Africa. [One of fifteen examples (nos 910-924, all European and most dating to the first half of the nineteenth century. All small - approx. 3 ins square - to be carried in a pocket. Most are leather, with made of tapestry, wool-work or bead-work. Tinder and flint would be carried inside, whilst in most the steel is fixed to the bottom of the bag].

Details

Category:
Firemaking
Object Number:
1937-682/918
type:
tinder bag
credit:
Wilkinson Sword Ltd.