Jeff R. Bridgman American Antiques

Unusual paper suffrage pennant, with bold and whimsical, western style lettering, circa 1915 American Suffragette pennant, in a very rare format, with text that reads “Votes for W...

Wooly, angora chaps with beautifully tooled leather, made by the John Clark saddlery company of Portland, Oregon, signed, circa 1873-1929. Wooly chaps made of leather and canvas, ...

Entirely hand sewn, 38 Star, antique American flag of the Indian wars period, with a Squarish profile and a canton that is taller than it is wide, similar to U.S. infantry and artill...

Three-sheet, narrow, vertical broadside, made to advertise Hunt Brothers Circus and Wild West Show ca 1900-1910. With the bold headlines “Buffalo Ranch” and “Real Wild West” in red a...

American Parcheesi Board in Salmon & Black Paint, with dutch style pinwheel decoration, exceptional surface, great graphics, and impressive scale, circa 1830-1850 19th century Ame...

Early American trade sign: “B. BRISCOE, TAILOR,” circa 1810-1850, with a backwards “S” and extraordinary surface Early, painted, American tr...

Exceptional sailor’s souvenir embroidery from the orient, with 13 stars, crossed flags, and a federal eagle, perched for flight, on a patriotic shield; significantly larger and more ...

13 star antique American parade flag, with a 3-2-3-2-3 configuration of stars, an extremely scarce and unusually large variety, made circa 1876-1899: 13 star American national parade flag, printed on cotton, made sometime during the last quarter of the 19th century. This is a very rare size for a parade flag in the 13 star count. The most common variety measures just 3 inches on the fly, and practically none reach over 10 inches. Before acquiring a small group in this large and unusual form, close to 20 years ago now, neither I, nor anyone else I knew in the world of flag collecting, had seen anything similar.* The group I acquired was discovered in Canada, and, given what I knew about 13 star parade flags, it was reasonable to assume that they were likely either produced there for the American market, or else made in the States for some Canadian-based event with U.S. involvement. Whatever the case may be, others in the same style have since been found north of the border, and Canadian manufacture would explain the scarcity. The stars are quite large in scale. Each is canted at a slight angle, such that one point is directed in the 1:00 position. These are arranged in staggered lineal rows in counts of 3-2-3-2-3, which is the most common configuration found in 13 star flags of the late 19th century, with pieced-and-sewn construction, but is highly unusual among printed parade flags. In most cases the 3-2-3-2-3 design can also be viewed as a diamond of stars, with a star in each corner and a star in the very center. It is of interest to note that the 3-2-3-2-3 pattern can also be interpreted as a combination of the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George, which some feel could have been the design of the very first American flag and may identify a link between this star configuration and the British Union Jack. The pattern is often attributed--albeit erroneously in my opinion--to New Jersey Senator Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, who is credited with having played the most significant role in the original design of the American national flag. Hopkinson's original drawings for the design of the flag have not survived and his other depictions of 13 star arrangements for other devices are inconsistent. On this particular example, note the unusual coloration of the hoist area, adjacent to the canton, which is red instead of the typical white. This adds a distinctly unusual feature to the flag's visual presentation and is a nice compliment to the field of large, canted stars. The presence of so much white fabric beyond the last red stripe is also not typical of parade flag production. This was done so that there would be room for error when trimming between one flag and the next. Parade flags were printed on a bolt of fabric, like other printed textiles, and were clipped from the bolt at the point of sale, or perhaps afterwards, if the buyer bought multiple flags. When printed horizontally across the bolt, or when small flags were printed next to one-another vertically in multiples, Most parade flags had only a tiny amount of space between them, and some print runs allowed no space at all. It is extremely unusual to encounter flag printed perpendicular to the bolt, with selvage (finished, woven edges) along the hoist and fly, that have enough white fabric beneath and above them to actually look as if the maker intended American flags to have 14 stripes.** 13 star flags have been flown throughout our nation’s history for a variety of purposes. They were hoisted at patriotic events, including Lafayette’s visit in 1824-25, the celebration of the nation’s centennial in 1876, and the sesquicentennial in 1926. They were displayed during the Civil War, to reference past struggles for American liberty and victory over oppression, and were used by 19th century politicians in political campaigning for the same reason. The U.S. Navy used the 13 star count on small boats until 1916, because it was easier to discern fewer stars at a distance on a small flag. Commercial flag-makers mirrored this practice and some private ships flew 13 star flags during the same period as the Navy. The use of yachting ensigns with a wreath of 13 stars surrounding a fouled anchor, which allowed pleasure boats to bypass customs between 1848 and 1980, persists today without an official purpose. Mounting: The flag was mounted and framed within our own conservation department, which is led by expert staff. We take great care in the mounting and preservation of flags and have framed thousands of examples. The background fabric is 100% cotton twill, black in color, that has been washed and treated for colorfastness. The extraordinary, 3-part molding is constructed of wood, but has a finish that presents like antique...

42 stars on an antique American flag with a wave configuration of lineal columns, an unofficial star count that reflects the addition of washington state, montana, and the dakotas, c...

Native American bandolier bag, constructed of deer or elk hide, muslin, and velvet, with wonderful beadwork decoration. Made circa 1885, t...

48 star, crocheted, antique american flag of the wwii era (1941-1945), a beautiful, homemade example, with a red, white, & blue hoist and flower-like stars: Crocheted American fla...

13 star antique American flag with a medallion configuration of stars; a tiny example among its counterparts with sewn construction, made circa 1895-1926, exhibited at the museum of the American Revolution, june-july 2019. This 13 star antique American flag is of a type made during the last decade of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th. The stars are arranged in a medallion configuration that features a single star in the center, surrounded by a wreath of stars, with a flanking star in each corner of the blue canton. The canton and stripes of the flag are made of wool bunting that has been pieced with treadle stitching. The stars are made of cotton and are double-appliquéd (applied to both sides) with a zigzag machine stitch. There is a twill cotton binding along the hoist, in the form of an open sleeve. Why 13 stars? As the number of stars grew with the addition of new states, it became more and more difficult to fit their full complement on a small flag. The stars would, by necessity, have to become smaller, which made it more and more difficult to view them from a distance as individual objects. The fear was that too many stars would become one white mass and distort the ability to identify American ships on the open seas. The U.S. Navy used 13 stars on its small-scale flags for precisely this reason. This was, of course, the original number of stars on the first American national flag, by way of the First Flag Act of 1777, and equal to the number of original colonies that became states. For all practical purposes, commercial flag-makers simply didn't produce flags with pieced-and-sewn construction that were 3 to 4 feet in length before the 1890s. There are exceptions to this rule, but until this time, the smallest sewn flags were typically 6 feet on the fly. The primary use had long been more utilitarian than decorative, and flags needed to be large to be effective as signals. Private use grew with the passage of time, however, which led to the need for long-term use flags...