The “John Quincy Adams” Tansel Powder Horn ©
Foreword: About 35 years ago, the author heard about a Kentucky era Tansel powder horn and was given the owner’s name and phone number. He contacted the owner and was invited to visit and photograph the horn with the understanding it was not for sale. Years later, the owner’s situation changed and he sold the horn to the author. The Kentucky era Tansel horn was exceptional for its early family history and unique image of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, who took office in 1825.
Figure No.1: This Tansel powder horn has an image of President John Quicny Adams carved on the breast of the federal eagle that is the trademark figure for all Tansel horns. Adams became President in 1825, and the horn was undoubtedly made to commemorate his election. The Adams image demonstrates the carving skills of the Tansels and their ability to reproduce images from broadsides and newspapers of their day. Author’s collection, photo by author.
The “John Quincy Adams” Horn: Several Kentucky era Tansel powder horns have nicknames that collectors use to reference them, and the new horn joins that group. With its unique image of Adams carved on the American eagle’s breast in Figure No.2, it has become known as the “John Quincy Adams” horn. But other significant figures also appear on the horn. The horn’s back side in Figure No.3 has an image of General George Washington in military dress and riding a stallion. Behind Washington is a round cartouche with the bust of a gentleman that represents the horn’s original owner. Above the bust is a large canon with several cannon balls above its muzzle and another stack of cannon balls under its muzzle that was added later. Among the Tansel carvers, John Tansel most often carved cannons and cannon balls on his horns. The top side of the horn in Figure No.4 has the horn’s only deer, and it lacks antlers. The same view also shows the top part of the eagle with a ribbon fluttering through its beak and an overhead arch with “E Pluribus Unum.” Two smaller arches just below the large arch appear to create a downward facing crescent moon, and below the moon are two fields of stars that contain twenty stars.
Figure No.2: The front side of the “John Quincy Adams” Tansel horn tends to fool the viewer’s eye. While not immediately noticed, the cartouche around the image of Adams is the traditional Tansel eagle that on this horn serves as the cartouche frame for President Adams’ image. Author’s collection, photo by author.
Figure No.3: The back of the Adams horn has an image of George Washington in full military dress and riding a stallion. Behind him is a cartouche with a gentleman’s bust depicting the horn’s first owner, as verified by similar horns with names attached. The cannon above the cartouche suggests the horn was carved by John Tansel.
Figure No.4: A top view of the horn shows the eagle’s head with a field of twenty small stars above it. Over the stars is a large arch with the “E Pluribus Unum” slogan. A small, blank ribbon flutters through the eagle’s beak, and two small arcs just above the stars create a downward facing crescent moon which often appears on Kentucky era Tansel horns.
The Adams horn’s spout has a neatly cut, rather deep fish mouth with engrailed edges and a Tansel-style scalloped border as seem in Figure No.5 below. On the other end, a bulbous, lathe-turned walnut butt plug with a softly raised basal bead is shown in Figure No.6; the butt plug’s surface is worn smooth from years of use and handling, and the original iron staple for strap attachment is missing. Two small scars show where the staple had been on the plug’s nose. The plug’s wear pattern presents an unexpected detail on the horn. The horn was a left-handed horn that was rotated 90 degrees to convert it into a right-handed horn with right-handed carving. However, the horn’s wear pattern on both plug and body suggests it was carried on the left side for much of its working life, despite the initial alterations to make it into a right-handed horn. Small brass tacks in Figure No.6 decorate the base of the horn. The tacks show old oxidation on their heads as well as on the horn surface around each head, verifying they were on the horn for many years and probably added soon after it was made. Three small iron plug nails are visible around the horn’s base between the tack heads, indicating the tacks were purely for decoration. The plug’s domed nose with slightly raised basal bead is similar to plugs on several other John Tansel powder horns of the 1825 era, strengthening its attribution. The horn is a bit heavy for its average size and has a thick wall suggesting it was a bull’s horn. Unfortunately its tip was slender and lacked adequate girth to carve a raised strap retaining ring and spout tip. When the horn was new, it undoubtedly had an attractive, lathe-turned applied tip on the spout.
Figure No.5: This view shows the original owner’s image in a round cartouche, the deeply cut fish mouth on the horn’s throat with typical Tansel-style scalloped border, and below the “E Pluribus Unum” banner a blurred area where a name or initials were erased.
Figure No.6: The horn’s end grain walnut plug is lathe-turned with a shallow bed around its base. Similar plugs are found on other John Tansel horn from around 1825. Oxidation on the brass tacks can be seen along with a Tansel style large scalloped basal border.
Dating & Attribution: Several figures including the owner’s bust in Figure No.5, deer in Figure No.7, and the eagle’s head/wings/overhead banner with field of small stars in Figure No.8 closely resemble the work of John Tansel from the mid-1820s. The use of a left-handed horn also suggests John’s work, since his father Francis always used right-handed horns; the author has never seen a left-handed horn carved by Francis Tansel… unless it was a finished horn made elsewhere and brought to him by a neighbor for decorating. The carved figures also strongly suggest John Tansel was the maker and help rule out Francis, while younger brother Stark Tansel had not yet [1825] reached this level of sophistication in his carving. The evolution of the Tansel eagle over the years, particularly in the head shape and feathering/shading of its wings, strongly relate this horn to other signed John Tansel horns. The horn is attributed to John Tansel with a high degree of certainty and assigned a date of circa 1825. Supporting this date is the fact that John Quincy Adams became President in 1825, and the horn was undoubtedly made to commemorate his election win by one of his Scott County, Kentucky, supporters.
Figure No.7: There is only a single running deer on this horn and no hunting dogs chasing it, when most Tansel horns have several deer chased by dogs. Unfortunately, the deer does not have antlers, since their shape often helps identify the carver.
Figure No.8: Above the eagle’s head are two small fields of start separated by a blank banner flowing through the eagle’s beak. The very small, thickly rayed stars of uniform shape are indicative of John Tansel’s hand. Stark’s and Timmothy’s stars were larger.
Provenance: The horn originally came out of an estate in Coles County, Illinois, with an old family provenance. It had been the horn of William Greenway Waddell/Waddill who was born in Virginia in 1801 and was living in Tennessee in the 1830s when he decided to move north through Kentucky to Coles County, Illinois. He arrived in Coles County about 1835 with the powder horn, and the horn remained with him or his descendants until it finally sold out of the family at an estate sale in Coles County in the 1970s. It was purchased by a local antiques dealer who prized the horn as a local artifact and retained it for about fifty years before finally selling it to the author in 2026.
Since the horn dates to about 1825, its whereabouts between 1825 and 1835 is vague. There were a number of Waddell/Waddill relatives living in central Kentuck from about 1800 until the present day. The author believes the horn was purchased new in 1825 by a Waddell/Waddill relative living in or near Scott County, Kentucky, where the horn was made. That Waddell was the gentleman depicted in the horn’s cartouche in Figure No.5. [Author’s note: Depicted owners all look the same except for modified hair lines] His initials were probably on the horn when new but removed later when the horn changed ownership. Two small areas on the horn are scuffed/scraped where earlier names/initials were removed: 1) in Figure No.3 just right of the cannon’s muzzle, and 2) in Figure No.8 just below the “E Pluribus Unum” banner. When William Greenway Waddell was travelling through Kentucky on his way to Illinois, he undoubtedly stopped and spent time with old friends and relatives who had moved to Kentucky years before he did. An earlier Waddell family member probably gifted the “John Quincy Adams” horn to William Greenway Waddell as a keepsake and reminder of his Kentucky kin as well as for use in the unbroken lands that lay ahead in Illinois.
Summary: Sometimes wishes come true. A fine Kentucky era Tansel powder horn with a rare image of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, had fascinated the author since he first saw it almost 35 years ago; at that time, he was clearly told it was a family heirloom and not for sale. But sometimes peoples’ lives get disrupted and cause their plans to change. Such a change happened with the John Quincy Adams horn, and the author was given an opportunity to acquire it. All Tansel powder horns are unique, but some are more unique than others, and the image of John Quincy Adams on a Tansel horn makes it one of those “more unique” horns. The author never expected it to come his way, but it did, making his old wishful thinking come true.