1952 Brass Spread Eagle Bookends by Virginia Metalcrafters

Offered is a pair of cast iron eagle bookends. These bookends each feature a perched eagle with large wings, tucked behind their bodies. The eagles' heads look to the right. The deta...

Presented is a wonderful inscribed color photo of the inauguration of George H.W. Bush as the 41st President of the United States held on January 20, 1989. The inauguration marked the commencement of the four-year term of George H. W. Bush as President and Dan Quayle as Vice President. The photograph is signed and inscribed to Ron Wade, who once served as a White House page for President Nixon. Inscription reads, "To Ron Wade/ Sincerely /George Bush" Mr. Wade then scripted a note on the verso of the photo, stating "Signed as President, week of 6-1/-89". The inauguration of George H. W. Bush as the 41st president of the United States was held at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 51st inauguration. Chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the presidential oath of office to Bush and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administered the vice presidential oath of office to Quayle. Bush was the first sitting vice president to be inaugurated as president (not due to his predecessor's death or resignation) since Martin Van Buren...

Beautiful pair of brass spread-wing eagle bookends by Virginia Metalcrafters, stamped 1952. The eagle is shown with its wings fully spread and a laurel branch and bundle of arrows clutched in its left talon. The eagle clutches a Union shield across its breast. The Union shield has a chief with three stars and six stripes completing the design. The eagle motif in décor and Folk Art has been widely used throughout our nation's history, most notably as part of our Great Seal. The founders of the United States were fond of comparing their new republic with the Roman Republic, in which eagle imagery, usually the golden eagle, was prominent. On June 20, 1782, the Continental Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States depicting a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows and an olive branch with its talons. When Charles Thomson put together the final design for the Great Seal, he placed a bundle of arrows in the eagle's left (sinister) talon. The official description specifies the bald eagle holding "in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows." The thirteen arrows are tightly aligned – a symbol of "strength in unity" that's found in the traditional cultures everywhere, from the Romans to the Iroquois— in this case a nod to the unity of the original 13 colonies. William J. Loth founded Virginia Metalcrafters in 1890, under the name Waynesboro Stove Company. The company, which made ornately cast Cook...

Beautiful pair of rare solid brass "Libertas & Justitia" collectible bookends with legends by Aristotle and Thomas Jefferson manufactured by Virginia Metalcrafters, circa 1996. The b...