Shot Pouch and Powder Horn by Chase Davies

I wanted to share with you my Shot Pouch and Powder Horn I made in about 2012, for a submission to the Conemporary Makers Blog.  

This bag was modelled after the rising sun on the headstone erected over the grave of my Great Great Grandfather Joshua Davies (Sr.).  Joshua was a friend to the Indians.  They had given him the name "Rising Sun" on account of his ruddy complexion.  They often called on him.  He would hire them and could always depend on them.  The Indians held a special service for him when he died and I am told that the headstone was erected in his honour by a local First Nation band.

Joshua Davies Sr. was born in 1858 in Wales and came to Ontario Canada in 1879.  He came west to Alberta with a survey crew for the A.R.& I. Railroad in 1881.  In 1884 he married Susan Yunker, a German immigrant to southern Alberta.  He initially squatted and worked for the Sheran Coal Mine in the Lethbridge area.  Later he built a cabin and then moved the "Holmes" house onto thirteen hundred acres, the "Old Ranch".  There he farmed and had a cattle herd of 400 head and 200 horses, which he grazed from Nobleford in the north to the Milk River Ridge in the south.  As the Davies home was on the highway, it was the stopping place for neighbours for over 50 years.  Mr. and Mrs. Davies had four sons and seven daughters.  Joshua died in 1920.  I am the great grandson of his son Joshua Y. Davies Jr. and Maude Shaw (a Metis).

Copy and photos supplied by Chase Davies.

Fowler by Chase Davies

Photos supplied by Chase Davies.

Hunting Bag by Chase Davies

Here is a Hunting Bag I made last year.  The bag is an improvement on some of my earlier designs, but a blunder in the choice of inks used in the drawing on the front flap.  Calligraphy ink was used towards the end, a little too late (should have stopped as soon as a problem was discovered).  It proved to be a true black and did not bleed or smudge as easily as the others did.  A lesson learned.  Experiment first next time on a small scrap piece.

The bag is 7" x 8", made of vegetable and chemically tanned cow and elk hides, a badger pelt, and features 2 gusseted compartments and one rear pocket.  The rear main gusseted compartment is 2" deep and is enclosed by the mask flap. The flap is designed to be able to be kept open during use, hanging down the back of the bag thus allowing for easy access to its contents while on the trail or at the range.  The inside of the flap features a representation of the "Plan of Salvation" of my own creation.  The front compartment tapers from 0 to 1" and has a pewter button flap.  The two compartments are separated by a welt that is integrated with the front compartment flap.  On the rear of the bag there is an integrated pocket hidden by the fur.  All compartments and pockets are fully lined in black velvet.  Hand stitching was done with artificial sinew.  The strap is a 1 1/2" belt.

Copy and photos supplied by Chase Davies.

Powder Horn and Strap by Chase Davies

I made the horn for my wife this year with a slender horn she took a fancy to (13 5/8" along the outside curve from tip to end of base plug and 6 7/8" around its base diameter).  The horn, base plug and stopper are hand carved and filed.  The base of the horn is kept in its natural shape and the base plug is pinned with wooden pegs.  The wood is cut from a local sage bush (I am sure it may be the first horn attempted with this wood), the largest I have found as of yet along the Fraser River of British Columbia.  Its grain and unique growth make it very extraordinary and attractive.  The horn and wood have been treated with a vegetable based oil and finished with a mink oil.  The horn strap featured is of my own making as well, and is from an old horn that I made out of high school.  It is the McLeod of Lewis tartan and is made in remembrance of the gentleman who introduced me to muzzle-loading.

Copy and photos by Chase Davies.