Hi. Today restoration of mysterious old artifact . This object dates back to the mid-19th century.e. At first glance, I couldn’t even understand what it was. It looked like a dirty piece of burlap, covered in cobwebs, grease, dust, and dirt. But something beneath it immediately caught my attention. I began by removing the dirty cloth from the object — and discovered a beautifully engraved brass surface underneath. The upper brass part was in good condition. The horn had a crack, while the lower part showed much more serious damage.
I started with the simplest thing. The leather strap attached to the object — which later turned out to be a powder flask — was so dry that it literally fell apart in my hands. I’ve rarely seen leather in such condition. Still, I was able to determine that the object dates back to the mid-19th century. First, I carefully cleaned the surface with a soft brush and moved on to disassembling the parts. This turned out to be quite difficult. I tried removing the upper part first — unsuccessfully. Then I removed the lower one. Only after some time did I understand how the object was actually assembled.
Once both parts were safely removed, I began cleaning the brass using warm water, cleaning agents, and various brushes. I also removed remnants of lead solder that had been used in earlier repairs. The next step was correcting the damaged parts. I started with the lower section — it had a large crack, and part of the brass was missing. I decided, unfortunately, to restore it. The object turned out to be so old that it was literally falling apart in my hands. The brass was heavily contaminated, and soldering simply wouldn’t work.
After several failed attempts, I fixed everything with metal epoxy. It seemed stable, but during reassembly the repaired area cracked again. I had no choice but to cut away the damaged section completely and fabricate a new brass part. I added engraving and ornamentation and soldered it using silver. The upper part was easier to restore. I cleaned the brass and soldered it with silver as well. The horn itself was lightly sanded, and the crack was glued using adhesive mixed with horn dust. Of course, it was impossible to restore its original shape — the material had dried out and deformed over time. Still, it remains functional.
During final assembly, I used a small amount of glue on the upper part, as I didn’t want to risk soldering again. For the lower section, I adjusted the new part as close to the original as possible using another horn reference and mounted everything with two custom brass fasteners. After all the technical work was completed, I moved on to recreating the missing strap. I used an original mid-19th century brass buckle and made a new leather strap for this antique powder flask.
As always, the object came back to life — and will continue its journey. Thank you all very much for watching. If you’re interested in purchasing my restored pieces, feel free to contact me on Instagram or Facebook. I wish you a Happy New Year — with happiness, health, luck, love, and all the best. Please share this video, leave your comments, and hit the like button — it truly helps the channel grow.
