34 STAR AMERICAN FLAG, CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1861-63, a RARE STYLE, KANSAS STATEHOOD

34 STAR ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG OF THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD (1861-63), IN A TINY SCALE AMONG PIECED-AND-SEWN FLAGS OF THE PERIOD, WITH A TRIPLE-WREATH CONFIGURATION, AN ELONGATED FORMAT, AND ENTIRELY HAND-SEWN; FOUND WITH A LETTER FROM JOHN W. RUDE OF THE 2ND KENTUCKY VETERAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY (UNION): 34 star flag of the Civil War period with a variety of extremely desirable features, handed down with a letter written by John W. Rude on November 8th, 1864, while encamped with the Army’s 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, as a member of the 2nd Regiment of Veteran Volunteer Cavalry. Tiny in scale among pieced and sewn examples, the flag displays a star pattern that consists of a three consecutive wreaths, with a single star in the very center. Because it lacks a single star in each corner, outside the basic pattern—usually present in flags of this design made during the mid-late 19th century—this is something I classify as a “snowball medallion.” Entirely hand-sewn throughout, note the square format of the blue canton, with its beautiful, circular star arrangement, and how interesting this combination is when paired with the elongated format of the flag itself. The stars are double-appliqued, meaning that they are applied to both sides. These are fat in shape and inconsistent in size. Note how the lowest star in the outermost ring actually dips into the white stripe below. Made of plain weave cotton, there is a narrow binding along the hoist, red in color, with three sets of cotton ties. Those at the top and bottom are made of fine, braided hemp or hemp and cotton cord, stitched into place, while the one in the center, looped around the binding and tied, is made of lightweight, twisted, cotton thread. Note how the 5th, 6th, and 7th red stripes are pieced from two lengths of cotton fabric, which reflects that the maker was being conscious of conserving available fabric. In the 19th century, most flags with pieced and sewn construction were 8 feet long and larger. A six-footer was considered small. Even military battle flags, carried on foot, measured 6’ x 6.5’, which translates into approximately 7’ x 7.5’ after framing, about the size of an average quilt and larger than can comfortably fit on a wall in a house with 8-foot ceilings and average width baseboard. Flags smaller than this exist, but the smaller they get, the more unusual they are. At just 1.5’ x 3’, this is about as small as one will ever encounter in a sewn flag of the Civil War era. The flag appears to have likely been hand-carried. I expect that it probably saw military use of some sort as a camp flag...

33 STARS IN A MEDALLION CONFIGURATION ON A LARGE SCALE ANTIQUE AMERICAN PARADE FLAG, AN EXTREMELY RARE EXAMPLE, OREGON STATEHOOD, 1859-1861 This 33 star American parade flag, printe...

Presented is an American flag waver with 46 stars. The printed flag features a row pattern of stars against a dark blue canton, with thirteen red and white stripes completing the des...

This is a 39-star unofficial American flag, handmade and printed on cotton. The flag dates to 1889 and has a unique history, thanks to its rare star-count. The flag’s canton is prin...