Description:
"Edward Courtney," Fort Edward, New York, 1757. No record of Courtney's service has been found. Although the engraving on this horn is not the best, it is competently executed, has graphic power, displays novel though naive calligraphy and has accurate details of Fort Edward. Especially compelling is the horn's intense, ideologically charged imagery. Two naked Indians with two-feather headdresses are shown shooting muskets at each other from behind trees. These depictions reenforce the idea that soldiers did not view their foes with respect. Rather, they regarded Indians as unclean savages whom they hated and feared. The coat-of-arms on Courtney's horn is extremely imaginative. Underneath the coat-of-arms is a large and fairly accurate outline of Fort Edward. The bulk of the carver's images seem to be derived from observations made on the spot.

Tags:
military

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2005.20.12

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