Canteen Confusion

[SkipperJohn]

I recently bought this from a friend who picked it up at a garage sale. It was being sold as an old whiskey flask. It looked familiar so I bought it. I initially thought that it might be a Prussian canteen from 1860 or so, but now I'm not so sure. The leather at the top is darkened and appears original, but the leather at the bottom is rawhide, obviously soaked in water and shrunk to fit. The rawhide is crudely done and appears to be quite old, maybe a field expedient repair. There are two loops on the sides and brass fittings on the bottom apparently to secure a strap. Any opinions will be valued. If it is a Prussian canteen I lucked out, if not, I'm out the price of a Big Mac.


John

 

[kaiser]

I m not able to tell you what this exactley is ,but if your in it for a burger i would not worry to mutch
it is without doubt old so great find

Not sure but could that be a flask dating to the boer war or somting in that erea

This is just guessing :|

Jonas

 

[Gustaf]

It looks like the Prussian M1882 water bottle, the raw hide bottom part is where the cup would be attached, the studs in the raw hide are like what would be found on the cup to hold it in place.

 

[SkipperJohn]

It looks like the Prussian M1882 water bottle, the raw hide bottom part is where the cup would be attached, the studs in the raw hide are like what would be found on the cup to hold it in place.

Thanks for the info. I thought that it was Prussian. I Googled Franco Prussian War canteens and found that it could be Prussian, Bavarian, Austrian, or even Belgian. It certainly didn't look French. No U.S. canteen was ever manufactured that looked like this. I found that early glass canteens were covered in two pieces of leather that covered each side entirely, but later canteens had the separation both side to side and top to bottom, like this one. There seems to have been a great deal of variation between manufacturers. Was the rawhide used in the original manufacture or is it likely an expedient repair?
John :???:

 

[Gustaf]

It looks to me to be a later addition to take the place of the drinking cup which helped hold the straps on the bottle.