The Last Tansel Powder Horn ©
Foreword: The first Tansel powder horn carver, Francis Tansel, stopped carving horns by the early-to-mid 1820s while still in Kentucky, but the carving tradition was carried to Indiana in 1829 by his three oldest sons, John (1800-1872), Stark (1807-1875) and Timothy (1810-1852). The sons carved a majority of the known Tansel powder horns while in Indiana in the 1830s and 1840s. Indiana horns made after 1840 were less frequently signed and more uniform in artwork, making attributions of some unsigned horns difficult. However, surviving horns suggest by the early-to-mid 1840s John’s horn carving had dwindled, leaving Stark and Timothy as the primary carvers. Stark signed very few of his horns, while Timothy still signed perhaps 25% of his work. Based on observed differences and the assumption that “odd” details not seen on signed [or strongly attributed] horns by Timothy were probably the work of Stark, generalizations can be made about many of the late Tansel horns… but who really carved the last Tansel horn?
Figure No.1: The “George F. Tansel” powder horn was carved by John Tansel while living in Marion County, Indiana. The horn lacks many of the expected features of a Tansel horn including the “trademark” large federal eagle, “fish mouth” throat, and hand-carved spout tip. Its simplicity suggests a late horn made when carving was going out of style.
The Last Years: As the frontier passed through Indiana on its unrelenting journey to the Pacific Ocean, the need for fine rifles and powder horns waned. Rifles became less decorated and more generic in appearance, and metal flasks and powder cans began to replace the more fragile powder horn. The 1848 election year with its heightened patriotic zeal created the last major surge in demand for carved Tansel horns. But the demand had subtly changed. It was less for hunting horns and more for political advertising to support the owner’s favorite candidate in the upcoming election. Tansel family recollections tell us that John and Timothy were ardent Whigs while Stark was a staunch Democrat, and heated debates often took place when the brothers got together, usually at Stark’s home. Their opposed political affiliations can, at times, help attribute some of the later unsigned Tansel powder horns, based on which party’s candidates appear on the horn. Not all images were of the presidential candidate; at times the vice-presidential candidate or other political figures appeared. After the 1848 elections, production of Tansel horns began to decline. Several “1849” dated horns are known, and a few “1850” horns. Timothy, the most prolific Tansel carver in the later Indiana years, became ill in 1851 and died in 1852, ending the saga of the beautifully rendered folk-art Tansel powder horn. An “1851” dated horn of smaller size and limited carving by Timothy is the last/latest Tansel horn known to the author, suggesting Timothy’s horn carving ended that year. But was the 1851 horn really the last carved Tansel powder horn?
Figure No.2: The reverse of the “George F. Tansel” powder horn is uncharacteristic of Tansel work with its lack of decoration. Only the Tansel-style scalloped basal border is present. However, the fruitwood butt plug is beautifully turned and shaped, adding visual appeal to the horn.
A Simple Horn: Many years ago, a major powder horn collector in Indiana acquired a small Tansel horn with limited carving, no federal eagle, and no “fish mouth” step-down between the horn’s body and spout. It was a simple horn, having few of the expected Tansel details and very little surface coverage. Further, it lacked the traditional hand-carved spout tip with a barrel-shaped strap retaining ring. Instead, it had an applied brass spout tip, albeit shaped somewhat like a Tansel tip, but probably taken from an antique umbrella tip [or so the author was told]. The collector soon traded the small horn away. It changed hands a few more times without getting much respect from any of its owners, until it was acquired by the author. Despite the horn’s many shortcomings, it had one great feature, a large Tansel-style banner running across its face where a federal eagle normally appeared, with the name “GEORGE F. TANSEL” carved in large block letters. Inspection of other figures on the horn showed it was made by John Tansel, oldest son of Francis Tansel, based on several details: 1) the form of its nicely turned fruitwood plug, 2) very precise basal border scallops, 3) somewhat “strained” folds on the ends of the banner, 4) a collar on the dog chasing a deer, and 5) “awkward” antlers on the deer that point almost straight up rather than curving forward. Finding John Tansel’s hand in the carving was no surprise, since the prominent name carved across the horn’s face was that of his son.
Figure No.3: A brass spout tip was used on the “George F. Tansel” powder horn, probably because the horn was too small to carve a raised bead for strap retention. The tip appears to be roll-formed sheet brass with several small, joined sections and may have originally been the decorative tip of an old umbrella. Despite its origin, it resembles a Tansel carved tip in profile and, being metal, it would never split from hard use.
Figure No.4: The finely grained fruitwood [or cherry?] butt plug has mellowed over the years, developing a beautiful, warmly colored surface. The small eyebolt once had a lanyard ring for strap attachment; it was probably a later replacement for an original integral wood button or a large-headed wood screw.
George F. Tansel: George was born on January 8, 1837 to John (1800-1872) and Mary “Polly” Ballard Tansel (1799-1881) in Marion County, Indiana; his grandfather was Francis Tansel, the first of the Tansel horn carvers. George married Mary Virginia Campbell in Marion County on December 8, 1870 and spent the rest of his life farming in Wayne Township about two miles south of the town of Clermont. When his father John died in 1872, the widowed mother “Polly” came to live with them until her death in 1881. George died on his farm on the afternoon of November 8, 1908, after suffering from stomach cancer for several months. He was well-liked in the community but did little else that was noteworthy. His wife and two daughters, Bertha and Ethel, survived him.
The “George F. Tansel” powder horn was carved by George’s father, John Tansel, apparently well after he stopped carving commercial horns. The dog and deer figures are not as well-proportioned and shaped as those on his earlier work. The horn’s small size, simplicity, small border scallops, lack of a “fish mouth” at the throat, and lack of a hand-carved strap retaining ring on the spout all support a manufacturing date in the mid-1850s or later. Horn carving was going out of style by that time, so it must have been a meaningful and intentional gift from his father. If it was made to recognize an important event in George’s life, it may date to the mid-1850s when George got his first rifle, or 1859 [author’s choice] when he reached maturity at age 21, or perhaps as late as 1870 when he married. Or perhaps it was simply a “keepsake” memento from father to son, one full of pride, nostalgia, and family memories so the son would never forget how his father, grandfather, and two uncles gained notoriety in frontier Kentucky and Indiana by carving the finest folk art powder horns made in America, the Tansel horns.