Revolutionary war period wooden canteen, also referred to as a "rundlet, rum keg or swigler". These type canteens were popular from the 1750' through the 1850's. This one is constructed of 16 individual wooden staves held in place with 4 iron rings. The rings remain tight to the wood, and there is no separation between the staves or end caps. Someone painted the wood green and the rings grey long ago. The wood remains the green color while the bands have began to show their natural color. A cork plug is with the canteen, unfortunately it is inside the canteen! If you have more patience than me maybe you can get it back out! I've read that later on during the war the colonists used these as small powder kegs to store fine grade powder used for pistols and muskets. The kegs produced specifically for black powder had copper bands, less chance of a spark occurring. Examples of this type canteen can be found in Neumann and Kravic's book "Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution" pages 61 - 64. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and recycling! This is a very iconic relic of the colonial period and would look great in your war room.

Item # AA597

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