Relatively few engraved powder horns have survived into the present day especially from before the American Revolution. Many of those that do have elaborate folk art style engraving designs that commemorate important events in the owner's history. Maps, ships, images of war, and wildlife are common themes. This horn is similar to documented French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War era colonial powder horns including examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection and "Folk Art of Early America: The Engraved Powder Horn" by Jim Dresslar. The Frederick William Hecht horn on page 58 and 59 has a very similar map of New York with slightly more crude designs and is dated three years earlier. Another with a strikingly similar map with more intricate details than the current example is in the collection of the Library of Congress and dates to the same period. Another "John Coon" signed example, dated 1780, is also known and is in the collection of the New-York Historical Society. Note the scalloped designs at the junction with the horn body and the dark spout which has carved designs that match many of the early horns exhibited in the book and collections noted above. The body of the horn has an engraved map of the Hudson River Valley in New York including the locations of various forts and settlements. Several of the markings utilize folk spelling such as "Blockhows," "Helfmoon," and "Lake Champlin." Albany and New York City are towards the bottom. The latter includes a scene of the harbor. There is also a panel inscribed "JOHN/COONS/8 REGT/ALBANY/MILITIA/1761" and the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. The spout plug is absent. John Coons, Senior and Junior are recorded as enlisted men in the 8th Regiment based in Albany alongside Jacob and Adam Coons. Multiple members of the Coon clan also fought in Patriot and Loyalist units during the War of Independence. The French and Indian War, started in part by a young George Washington, was highly influential in creating a sense of unity in the American colonies. In fact, some of the imagery and arguments used in promoting colonial unity against the French and their Native allies was later used to call for unity against England. While it temporarily emphasized tight ties to England, it also led to the conditions that instigated the American fight for independence. The high cost of the French and Indian War in the colonies, as well as the larger intercontinental Seven Years War it created, had a devastating effect on the finances of England and France. Parliament attempted to force the colonies to pay part of the price of the war fought on their behalf. These taxes were much lower than those levied in England, but many Americans opposed them on the grounds that they were not represented in Parliament. English success in the war also led to part of the newly conquered territory west of the mountains was reserved for Native Americans, not colonists, despite the fact that the war was started due to colonial interest in settling those lands. American petitions for representation and changes in colonial policies were not headed by King George and Parliament, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Fine overall. The horn is attractively aged and has some mild wear along the edges of the base plug. The dark spout has a hairline crack visible, mostly contained to the center of both the smooth portion where it intersects the carved band near the tip. The scrimshaw pigment remains mostly black and is mostly visible.