The Stark Tansel powder horn has a fascinating "hidden story" within its artwork... debated for a while by myself and Roland Cadle. The horn has two similar soldiers on horseback, with the rear horse seemingly trying to run into, or unseat, the front horse's rider. In the tangled vine to the right, there are three faces [2 have partial bodies as well] worked into the design, with two facing right and one facing left, looking at each other.
The debated hidden meaning revolves around John and Timothy being staunch Whigs, and Stark being a staunch Democrat. This horn, while undated, is probably an 1836 election year horn, based on its artwork. I always thought the three figures hidden in the vines represented John and Timothy on one side, i.e. Whigs, looking at Stark, a Democrat, on the other side. Roland thought the two horse soldiers represented the same basic theme, that one party was trying to unseat [figuratively from a horse] the other party. No one knows for sure why such hidden details were included on the horn, but this horn was probably a Tansel member's personal horn with Stark's name across the front, and Timothy's initials in the eagle's shield, and therefore carries a subtle message about the Tansel family and its political views in the mid-late 1830s when the horn was made. Stark's second wife left a written record recalling the "spirited debates" that took place at their house when John and Timothy visited. This horn is a close copy of the original, which is one of the more interesting Indiana era Tansel horns.
Shelby Gallien
