Cattle Brand c. 1936

J. Henry Marley created this simple but bold cattle brand sometime in the 20th century. It’s made with what looks like black marker on paper. I wonder what it was like for Marley to make this drawing; was he designing a practical symbol, or was he just letting his imagination roam? The lines are confidently drawn, yet there’s something almost playful about how the shapes intersect. You’ve got this sort of open horseshoe shape bisected by an arrow which also terminates in a forked branch - it's kind of wild, isn't it? It reminds me of artists like Forrest Bess who were making signs and symbols in the 20th century. Whether they’re designing a brand for cattle or inventing symbols from the unconscious, artists are constantly inventing and reinventing languages of seeing and feeling, and, in the process, communicating and connecting across cultures and time.