An Early Powder Horn by Stark Tansel ©
Overview: Fine carved powder horns were made by the Tansel family in Scott County, Kentucky, from about 1805 until 1829 and then Hendricks and Marion Counties, Indiana, from 1829 until 1851. Of the four known carvers, father Francis and sons John b.1800, Stark b.1807, and Timothy b.1810, Stark Tansel’s work is the most difficult to identify. Stark signed very few of his horns, resulting in most of today’s “Stark” horns being educated guesses. The author has one signed Stark horn from Kentucky and another from Indiana. A third Indiana horn has been reported with the initials “S T” but has not been documented in collecting circles. No other signed or initialed Stark Tansel horns are known to the author. Recently, an unsigned ca.1825 horn was found in North Carolina that can be attributed strongly to Stark based on several distinctive details. A review of those details may prove educational to Tansel horn collectors… and enjoyable to others who just want to see a fresh, well-decorated American powder horn.
Figure No.1: The newly discovered Tansel horn has a large, raised wing eagle with “different” head shape and feathering style, non-standard basal borders, and a “U” shaped fish-mouth. Those key details, when combined, help identify the horn as the work of Stark Tansel. Several smaller details found in other figures help strengthen the attribution.
Stark Tansel Attribution: The attribution is based on the following details:
1. The large “raised wing” style eagle first appeared around 1819 on both Francis’ and John’s horns. Prior to that date, eagles had “droopy” wings with downward pointing tips. The horn’s raised wing eagle dates it to after 1819. However, other figures are more primitive than the work of Francis and John at that time, strongly suggesting it is the work of the younger Stark.
2. The fish-mouth step-down between the horn body and throat has the traditional “V” shape on the back side, but an unexpected “U” shape on the more visible front side. Francis and John consistently used the traditional Tansel “V” shaped fish-mouth, while Stark felt less constrained and at times varied the shape of his fish-mouth. “Different” shaped fish-mouths can almost always be attributed to Stark.
3. The deer figures have fine “hair” fringe around their outer edges and their heads have long, pointy noses, both details seen in Stark’s early work. The eagle and bear figures are also more primitive than similar animals carved by Francis and John in the 1820-1825 period.
4. The spout’s strap retaining ring [with shallow bead below it] has very little height. Both Francis and John used strong, well-raised strap attachment rings by this time, but Stark was still developing some of his details… including his rather weak strap retaining ring.
5. The elaborate border design at the fish-mouth has not appeared on a Francis or John Tansel horn.
Figure No.2: Above the eagle is a heavily decorated, rather complex area with multiple Tansel figures… yet most are “slightly different” as Stark worked out his own style for the figures. His carving skills were well-developed by this time, as witnessed by his deep, clean cutting of all figures. But his artistic skills were still developing as seen in the oddly coiled snake and rather “chubby” head on the eagle.
Dating: The Stark horn can be dated to circa 1825 based on its eagle. The large “raised wing” Tansel eagle did not appear until late 1819 or early 1820. However, Stark was only 13 years old in 1820. Based on the earliest known horns of older brother John, Stark had to be at least 17 or 18 years old to carve a horn as complete in surface coverage and figure development as this horn, which makes the horn’s probable date 1824-1825. The shape and simplicity of both the spout and the butt plug help support this rather early date for Stark. At least one early horn carved by John Tansel used the same style plug and was made when he was about 17 or 18 years old and still developing his carving skills.
Figure No.3: Below the eagle is a menagerie of animals that includes several deer and a heavily clawed bear. Note the short fringe or “fur” on the deer’s outlines. On the left side is Stark’s rendition of the “pile of houses” figure used by Francis on earlier horns to represent a town or village. Stark made the figure larger and added doors to houses in the bottom row, perhaps to differentiate himself from his father and older brother.
Carved Decoration: Some figures on the Stark horn were taken from earlier horns by his father Francis. The basal border with continuous wave pattern seen best in Fig. No.2 was used frequently by Francis in the 1805-1810 period, but Stark added a dainty, scalloped border to the larger border. The complex figure below the tip of the eagle’s right wing [viewer’s left] in Fig. No.1 with four cross-hatched hearts around a cross-hatched center was taken from Francis’ War of 1812 horns carved at Ft. Meigs in 1813. Below it, the “pile of houses” detail in Fig. No.3 was frequently used by Francis to represent towns or villages on his early horns made before 1815. The large bird in Fig. No.2, probably a swan, was also taken from Francis’ earlier work. There is no trace of polychroming on the horn, suggesting Stark had not mastered all aspects of the craft yet. Polychroming [staining selected areas] could fade due to excessive wear or handling over time, but Stark’s carving is sharp and clear, ruling out excessive wear and indicating the horn never had polychroming.
Several figures were taken from older brother John’s work, including the large moon with face and orb above the eagle’s head in Fig. No.2, and the folky looking bear. Whereas John learned horn carving from his father, Stark apparently learned from both his father and older brother John, and he used details from both of them. However, much of the eagle including its head, neck, and wing shape shows a growing individuality by Stark, which was to become his trademark among the Tansel carvers. The low/weak strap-retaining ring on the spout in Fig. No. 4 fails to mimic the stronger rings of his father and older brother. It is not fully developed for its intended purpose, but it shows Stark’s individuality in design.
Figure No.4: The back side of the Stark horn has been turned around in this view to show the bear and reclining deer figures right-side-up. Note the backward pointing antlers on the deer, hinting the carving was not done by Francis or John. figure. The horn has minimal bag wear; only a small area around the jaw of the fish-mouth shows any wear at all.
Conclusion: The newly discovered Tansel horn is strongly attributed to Stark Tansel circa 1825 in Kentucky. Its dating, style of eagle, somewhat primitive animals, and non-standard fish-mouth suggest neither Francis nor John would have made it, yet its figures were strongly influenced by their earlier work. In addition, the odd “U” shaped fish-mouth adds the final “nail in the coffin” to the attribution, since Stark was the only Tansel carver known to break from the traditional Tansel “V” fish-mouth at times to express his individuality. Measurements: Outside curve 12-11/16”; inside curve 10-5/8”; plug diameter 2-5/8” horizontally and 2-9/16” vertically; spout 2-1/4”. Horn curvature is “right-hand-carry.”
Post Script: The horn has several visible cracks with two small basal pieces separated but retained by pins. When the initial cracks appeared, tiny pins were added to stabilize the cracks and keep the horn functional. Later plug and/or horn shrinkage broke two small pieces of horn loose in the cracked areas… but fortunately the old pin repairs kept the small pieces in place. Additional pins were later added to re-stabilize the horn around the small breaks. When the horn was found, it had old black cloth tape wrapped tightly around the spout [due to cracks] as well as around the base where the butt plug met the horn body. The old tape was removed from the basal end to expose the carved border underneath, followed by a light cleaning to remove remaining adhesive residue. The tape has been dated to about 1900, indicating the horn was still being used in North Carolina as late as the beginning of the 20th century. This well-carved Tansel horn was valuable enough to keep functional for a few more years by adding tape, but not valuable enough to retire to a place of honor in the home. Time has sure changed things!