Finding Aids

Howard Pyle (1853–1911) was an illustrator, author, and teacher. He is well-known for his works "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood," "King Arthur," and his illustrations of pirates. This lithograph is a reproduction of an original painting by Howard Pyle that he was commissioned to produce for the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company in 1911. The image depicts the 1813 wagon train under military escort, which carried DuPont powder from Brandywine Mills near Wilmington, Delaware, to Commodore Perry at Erie, Pennsylvania.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company was incorporated on May 19, 1903. It was organized as an operating company to consolidate approximately 100 explosives manufacturers controlled by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. This collection is a series of six advertising cards for E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company's smokeless powders for shotguns (DuPont smokeless; Hazard smokeless; New E.C. Improved; New Schultze; Infallible smokeless) and black sporting powders (DuPont Rifle; Hazard Kentucky Rifle; L. & R. Orange Extra Sporting).