Some Horns are Just Pretty: A War of 1812 Era New England Powder Horn ©
Foreword: The author collects fine carved horns from the Midwest by members of the Tansel family of Kentucky and Indiana, and by the Dunwoody brothers of Mercer County, Ohio. Occasionally a different type of carved horn comes along that, despite not being from the Midwest, is too attractive to pass up. That was the case with a recent New England horn with a great horn body covered with nicely done provincial folk-art.
Figure No.1: The front side of the New England powder horn shows off its nicely shaped spout, relief carved ring of small triangles that separates the body from the spout, and a portion of its foliage-like folk-art decoration. A low domed New England style butt plug is barely visible here. Horn dimensions: outside curve 14-1/2 inches, inside curve 11-7/8 inches, butt diameter 2-7/8 inches horizontally and vertically. Author’s collection.
New England Origin: The horn shown in Figures No.1 and No.2 appeared on Ebay one night with a “Buy It Now” price well below its market value. The author saw the horn and was immediately attracted by its mellow patina and pleasing shape… and even more so by its folk-art decoration. The horn’s low domed, soft wood butt plug was typical of New England horns, along with a small, two-holed tab for basal strap attachment. Its folk-art carving of floral designs had stylistic “tulip flowers” often seen on earlier New England horns. The horn’s surface was old and dry, the finely shaped spout was better than expected, and a unique relief carved “ring of triangles” separated the horn’s body from its spout. It was not a Tansel or Mercer County horn, but its eye appeal was undeniable… too exciting to pass up, even for a Midwest horn collector.
Figure No.2: The back side of the New England horn has a continuation of the foliage style folk-art carving, and a smaller zig-zag basal border that somewhat matches the ring of small triangles between the horn’s body and spout. There is no name, date, or location carved on the horn.
Artwork: The horn was probably made and decorated by its first owner. If so, he was a good craftsman with an eye for symmetry and “interesting” figures. It could be argued that the horn body shows more skill/training than does the folk-art carving, but that is an unfair comparison. The maker’s personality emerges more in the extensive carving, a product of his imagination that was not constrained like the shaping a utilitarian object [a powder horn] along traditional patterns. Several tall, flowering plants entwine the horn’s surface, along with a large goose or swan near its base. An attractive border of relief-carved triangles separates the horn’s body and spout, while a smaller incised border of zig-zags decorates the base. A row of chevrons inside parallel lines runs lengthwise along the top of the horn as seen in Figure No.3. Its geometric nature, along with the geometric relief-carved triangles and smaller zig-zag border, might suggest a Native American connection in northern New England. However, the geometric patterns could just as well be the whim of the maker.
Figure No.3: The top of the New England horn has a somewhat odd design running full length across its body. The design appears to be stacked chevrons between two outer lines. The geometrical design is unexpected on an otherwise more natural “flowers and vines” decorated horn.
Figure No.4: The bottom of the horn has a stylized tulip flower, often used on earlier New England horns. To its right near the butt plug, the figure of a swan with raised wings can be seen. The deep cutting of the figures suggests the carver had some knowledge of what he was doing, but he was by no means a professional horn carver. The horn’s mellow color and dry, old surface is well illustrated in this full-length view.
Plug & Spout: The butt plug is a low domed, soft wood plug [probably red cedar] typical of New England plugs. A small, slightly protruding tab on the top of the horn’s bell has two holes for anchoring the twine ends of a carrying strap and can be seen in Figure No.5 below. On the horn’s opposite end, its spout is attractively shaped with a lower strap retaining ring followed by top and bottom rings/beads on the pouring spout. The throat appears to be stained a dark brown to contrast with the rich yellow horn body. At the juncture of the horn’s body and throat, its relief-carved ring of small triangles is clearly displayed in Figure No.6 and stands out as a major artistic detail on the horn.
Figure No.5: The New England horn has the traditional style front strap attachment using of two holes drilled through the horn near its base. The holes angle downward to catch part of the plug wood for strength.
Figure No.6: The horn’s spout is exceptionally well designed and shaped, with all work done by hand, The dark staining on the spout and ring of small, relief-carved triangles at the spout’s base are visible here.
Date & Origin: Dating unsigned New England horns carved by their owners often comes down to an educated guess based on several or the horn’s details. The study horn has a small vestige of an earlier style basal tab for strap attachment, suggesting it was made well after the Revolutionary War. Its less structured folk-art plants and flowers with a large swan figure push the date to the early 1800s. The horn body is more attractively shaped than bodies on many later New England horns, and more significantly, the faceted throat and spout used on later New England horns are not present. When all factors are considered, a date of 1800-1815 is reasonable for this horn.
Figure No.7: One of the more interesting carved figures on the horn is the swan [or goose] with raised wings near the base. The bird figure adds a touch of life, or animation, to the horn’s artwork.
Figure No.8: Several flowering plants appear in the horn’s carving. This particular plant, rather short and wide, has a large flowering head and several smaller buds. Perhaps a New Englander can identify it.
The newly discovered New England horn is unsigned, undated, and has no published comparable horns. Its generalized New England folk-art carving makes identifying a more specific time/place of origin difficult. The horn may have an association with northern New England Native Americans due to its geometric details in several areas, while a lack of mermaids, fish, and sailing ships common to coastal New England horns implies an inland horn. The horn exhibits no damage and very little wear, which tends to rule out military service and frontier usage in remote areas of New England. Perhaps the best attribution that can be reached is that the horn is an early 1800s New England folk-art horn, probably made inland from the coast by an unknown citizen who was mechanically inclined and had an artistic bent… and a desire to impress his neighbors with his fine handiwork.