Unraveling the Mystery of a Great Tansel Powder Horn ©
Foreword: Most powder horn collectors prefer signed and dated horns with the original owners’ names, giving the horns an historical context. Perhaps 35% of known Tansel horns are dated, 25% signed or initialed, and less than 10% have the original owner’s name in the Tansel carver’s hand. Earlier Kentucky horns often carry more information, while later Indiana horns often carry less due to being a more commercial product. But at times an unmarked Tansel horn can provide clues that allow much of its missing background to be reassembled. A good example is the exceptional Kentucky era Tansel horn in Figure No.1 that recently came out of Iowa. The horn has no date, signature, or original owner’s name, but it offers clues about its history that has allowed its story to be reconstructed.
Figure No.1: This Tansel powder horn has survived in above-average condition for over 200 years. A “military” style eagle and rampant lion help date the horn to a few years before the War of 1812 from about 1808 to 1810. Carving is well executed and shows minimal wear with only a small area of bag wear on the back side. An original horn ring remains behind the plug to hide the plug nails, along with an original applied spout tip with the Tansels’ barrel-style bead. No metal pin holds the spout tip in place, suggesting some type of early adhesive may have been used. Author’s collection.
Partial Provenance: The Tansel horn had been in the Sawtell family of Illinois and Iowa since the end of the Civil War. The first known owner was Joseph C. Sawtell, born 1837 in Michigan. When twenty-one years old in 1857, he moved to Warren County, Illinois, and a few years later to Story County, Illinois. In 1862 Joseph enlisted in Company F, Eighty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving for three years and mustering out in 1865. During his service, Joseph spent time in Kentucky, a coincidence that could be related to his acquisition of the horn. Joseph married Louisa McMillian in 1867 and had a daughter and sons William, Charles, and Joseph. The last Sawtell owner of the Tansel horn was Jay Sawtell of Iowa, who in 2023 disposed of his great-grandfather Joseph Sawtell’s Civil War memorabilia that included the Tansel powder horn.
A Significant Horn: The newly discovered Tansel powder horn is beautifully carved as shown in Figure No.2, with distinctive figures that help date it to before the War of 1812 and identify the carver as Francis Tansel. While Francis’ oldest son John at times borrowed figures from his father’s work, the rampant lion, rectangular name/signature cartouche, and swan figures were used primarily by Francis. The artwork puts the horn into a specific period within the progression of Francis’ carving style, allowing the horn to be dated to 1808-1810. The carving therefore answers two questions about the horn’s history, its carver and date, leaving only the question of the original owner unresolved.
Figure No.2: The bottom of the Tansel horn is decorated with Francis Tansel’s “standard” swan and wolf figures in round and oval cartouches, respectively. Also visible is the rectangular cartouche behind the butt plug intended for either the carver’s or owner’s name, but it was left blank. The dotted borders on several cartouches help nudge the horn’s date toward 1809 or 1810. Author’s collection, photos by Author.
The “Scratch” Name: The horn has the initials, “W R,” and a small, scratch-carved name, “W. Rawlins,” both added by a later hand. The larger, double-lined initials are stylistically earlier than the smaller scratch-carved name, suggesting the “W. Rawlins” name was added later to clarify or reaffirm what the initials stood for. The name and initials can be seen below in Figure No.3 and are probably those of a second or third owner. In Kentucky, fine horns and rifles usually stayed within the family for several generations, handed down from father to oldest son, so the “Rawlins” name was a reasonable starting point in a search for the original owner. “Rawlins” was a corrupted spelling of “Rawlings,” an early Kentucky family name with several known branches. The corrupted spelling was less widely used in Kentucky, making the search easier. In the 1810 Kentucky census, about when the horn was made, there was only one “Rawlins” name listed, a “John Rawlins” living in Scott County, the same county where Francis Tansel lived.
Figure No.3: The back side of the Tansel powder horn has the scratched name “W. Rawlins” near the fish-mouth and larger, lightly carved block letter initials “W R” above the swan cartouche. The name/initials are those of the horn’s third owner, William Rawlins, who acquired the horn after the deaths of his father, John Rawlins Sr., in 1851 and his older brother, John Rawlins Jr., in 1852. The plug’s original horn button for strap attachment has survived intact despite its chipped edges. Dimensions: outer curve 13-1/2,” inner curve 11,” basal ring diameter 2-5/8.” Author’s collection, photos by Author.
John Rawlins: Rawlins was a well-to-do businessman and longtime judge on the Scott County Court, similar to other successful Kentuckians who were the usual owners of early Tansel horns. John Rawlins (1781-1851) was from Delaware where he married his first wife Nellie Smith in 1806 and second wife Patsey Morris in 1810. Immediately after the second marriage in 1810, Rawlins moved to Scott County, Kentucky, where he and his wife raised a family. Their oldest son was John Jr. and the second son was William. Since male-related family heirlooms usually went to the oldest son upon the father’s death, John Jr. would have inherited his father’s rifle and Tansel powder horn when the father died on March 9, 1851. Unfortunately, John Jr. died soon after in 1852 while still childless and without heir. The family’s heirloom Tansel powder horn would have then gone to second son William, which explains the “W R” initials and later expanded “W Rawlins” name added to the horn.
Figure No.4: The top of the Tansel horn is intricately carved with an attractive fish-mouth border, two large “S” scrolls with their free ends terminated with small federal shields, and a man-in-the-moon figure near the plug. An unexpected feature is the placement of the lobes formed by the fish-mouth cuts. Most Tansel horns have their lobes on the front and back sides to maximize the front side’s carving surface, but this horn’s fish-mouth cuts are centered on the front and back sides, pushing the lobes to the top and bottom of the horn and reducing the amount of available carving surface on the horn’s front side where the eagle normally appears. Author’s collection, photo by Author.
Summary: An exceptional Kentucky era Tansel powder horn was recently sold out of an old Iowa collection. The horn was not signed or dated and lacked the original owner’s name. But the horn’s intricate artwork offered clues about its heritage and clearly identified the carver as Francis Tansel of Scott County, Kentucky. The figures were carved in a pre-War of 1812 style that dated the horn to 1808 to 1810. A later “scratch” name and matching initials allowed the horn’s original owner to be identified as John Rawlins, a successful businessman and county judge in Scott County. Research into Rawlins’ background established his arrival in Scott County, Kentucky, as 1810, providing a more accurate date of 1810 for this 1808-1810 era horn. Rawlins’ family history also provided the horn’s line of descent through his oldest son, John Jr., who died childless, and then second son William, whose initials and “scratch” name appear on the horn.