- Halsey Munson Americana

Halsey Munson Americana

204 North Summit Avenue

Decatur, Illinois 62522

Phone: 217-972-4645

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18th C. Leather & Iron Strike-A-Light

Excellent example of a late 18th/early 19th C. tinder pouch. A form said to have started in the Far East in the 1500s, it was a self-contained fire-making kit, with a piece of high carbon steel attached to a small leather pouch that held flint and tinder. Trade between Europe and the Far East brought this form of tinder pouch to popularity in Europe and England, where it remained in use up until the mid-19th C. Far Eastern examples are usually ornamented with chased brass emblems and corner bosses. English and Continental tinder pouches were generally more utilitarian and, like this one, used iron mounts instead of brass or silver. The steel striker is worn and the iron corner mounts are heavily oxidized, but a scrap of tinder remains in the pouch. For similar examples, see pp. 25-6 of John Caspall’s Fire and Light, and p. 168 of Early American Country Furnishings by George Neumann.

$325