Production: Unknown (Uncertain)
Powder tester
J.S. Henderson Bequest
Length: 30 cm
Weight: 735 g
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart
17th Century, Late
Production date:
circa
AD 1690
In the days before rigourous and systematic quality control, the quality of gunpowder (or black powder as it is sometimes known) varied a great deal. Powder testers, called eprouvettes, were developed to test just how strong a new batch was. This powder tester was made by adapting an existing pistol. A measured amount of powder was put into the short barrel and the lid closed. The test powder was then set off by firing the flintlock. The exploding powder pushed the lid up and the height to which it flew indicating how strong the powder was, the higher it went, the stronger the powder.
Accession number: HEN.M.447-1933
Primary reference Number: 19592
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Powder tester" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/19592 Accessed: 2024-12-22 15:08:22
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/19592
|title=Powder tester
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 15:08:22|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-19592
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