Branding Iron c. 1942

Elizabeth Johnson created this watercolor painting of a branding iron, of unknown date. Johnson was one of many artists employed by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. During this time, the branding iron was a quintessential emblem of the American West. It signified ownership, a visual assertion of property rights in a landscape increasingly shaped by human intervention. In some ways, one might consider this branding iron as a sort of proto-logo. However, the act of branding itself carries a darker history. In the context of slavery, branding marked human beings as property, stripping them of their identities and reducing them to commodities. The emotional weight of this historical parallel lingers, complicating our view. Johnson’s painting invites us to reflect on the complex layers of identity, ownership, and historical memory embedded in seemingly simple objects.