Moroccan powder flasks
 

I have two large Moroccan powder flasks in my collection. One is covered in scrimshawed camel bone and has engraved silver escutcheons containing coral and turquoise stones. The fill spout is camel bone. The second powder flask is covered in engraved silver with flower shaped escutcheons containing coral stones. The entire surface also contains silver rivets, and the fill spout is also camel bone. The workmanship on both flasks is very fine and I estimated the value of each to be in excessive of $600. Can you fellow collectors give me your opinions/ any info on these flasks? Thank you!

Moderators' comment
 

Please take any mention of valuations to PM or email, not on this discussion forum.

Hi NYCobra and welcome to the Forum.
Nice pair of flasks you have there. As Ian has already said, any mention of values, or requesting valuations is taboo here.
Your pair could possibly be made for the tourist market but it is a bit unusual for those to have camel bone spouts. Is the body of the flask/s hollow....check by running a piece of wire or suchlike down the spout to see if it goes all the way to the bottom. If so, then they could be made to be used, rather than just for decoration. Here is a link to some Moroccan flasks I once owned. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...oroccan+flasks
If you use the Search function above you will find other posts by entering "Moroccan flasks"
Stu

Moroccan powder flasks
 

Thanks for responding Stu! The powder flask covered in scrimshaw camel bone is hollow and came from an estate sale of a rich, high level family in Fess, Morocco. The silver flask is hollow, but has a metal obstruction that would prevent any storage of powder and is therefore a reproduction or decoratuve item. It was a gift thrown in with a sale made in Morocco. I have decided to keep it in my collection because it is representative of fine silver workmanship by a Berber artisan/jeweler in early 1900's. I am including a photo of some of the Moroccan powder flasks in my collection. Please note that the dagger in the photo is a Spanish, 17th century, left-hand dagger.

Nice pieces you have there!! Thanks for showing.
Re the silver flask, I would not be in a hurry tp part with it, even if it has something inside which stops it being used as a flask. As you say it is a very nice example of silverwork and work of this quality is not often seen on Moroccan flasks.
I see just a glimpse of a couple of Nimcha in the top left corner of your pic. Any chance of seeing a pic of the full items?
Stu

Moroccan Powder Flasks
 

Sure Stu, be glad to! I believe you could classify each of these swords as museum quality.

Beautiful workmanship on those two flasks. As well, that beehive flask being in great condition. Nice pieces all.

Here are the photos. I had difficulty posting them! Sorry!

Moroccan Powder Flasks
 

Apparently my photos were in the wrong format! So I am going to try with a jpg format! Sorry Stu.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13631
Hi NYCobra....this might help.
Stu

Here are the photos:

Thanks Lee. Nice pieces by the look of them.
Stu