Stirrup c. 1940

Editor: This is "Stirrup," a pencil drawing from around 1940 by Harry Mann Waddell. I'm struck by how this everyday object—a stirrup—is transformed through the addition of elaborate, almost nationalistic, ornamentation. What symbols jump out at you, and what might they represent in this context? Curator: The symbols here speak volumes. Notice the eagle, of course. We see it often enough that we risk overlooking its potency as a symbol of freedom, power, and the United States. Its placement above the heart suggests a dominance of patriotic fervor over personal emotion, at least in the representation. The starburst above reads as something celestial and hopeful. Are these long-held national mythologies being reflected, or even questioned, in the American West of the 1940s? Editor: That’s fascinating. It seems contradictory, this ornate decoration on a functional item meant for labor. Curator: Exactly! And think about what it means to adorn a tool of the cowboy’s trade with these national emblems. It speaks to the romanticization of the West, intertwining rugged individualism with patriotic ideals. Could the heart also symbolize courage, vital to life and thus placed nearest to where the foot falls and makes it's stand? Editor: I hadn’t considered that before, that the ordering of symbols indicates a direction or priority of thought and ideals. Thank you! I see it differently now. Curator: And the artist likely invites such layered readings! That interplay of object, symbol, and cultural memory is at the very heart of the artistic impulse, inviting all of us to participate in constructing those interpretations through dialogue across generations.