Political and Patriotic Memorabilia

This unusual set of drawings in a double sided frame came out of an old New England Estate in a Beacon Hill, Boston home. From what we have gathered, they are hand-colored drawings o...

An important & rare antique American political printed silk broadside, an elegy on the death of President George Washington, dated 1800. A poem on the Death of President George Was...

Swiss alp calendar

An English 18 century engraving titled "Man of the Sandwich Islands, with his helmet " signed .J. Webber del. J.K. Sherwin sc. The subject was sketched in the 1770s by J.K Sherwin S,...

Victorian Eastlake large upholstered solid oak throne chairs from Masonic Lodge with lots of detailed carving. The pair consists of one with the plumb bob sy...

A joined enclosed American walnut, white oak, pine, beech, maple, krappa (crabwood), and letterwood Boston chest of drawers with lidded top Ipswich/Bosto...

Very rare William and Mary pewter trefid spoon the handle molded in relief with portraits and dating from around 1690. The spoon has an elongated rounded ...

Presented is a very rare, 41-star flag waver celebrating Montana statehood. The flag is printed on linen and dates to 1889. The dark blue canton is printed with forty one stars in nine rows of alternating counts of five and four stars. Thirteen red and white stripes complete the flag’s design. The history of Montana statehood is a long one. Numerous Native American tribes originally inhabited the Montana Territory. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the members of their expedition were the first explorers to document a journey through Montana and the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Soon, forts were established to facilitate regular fur trading with Native American tribes. Missionaries and trailblazers followed. The discovery of gold in the early 1860s sped the creation of the Montana Territory. As settlers and gold prospectors entered Montana in the 1860s and 1870s, conflicts with the Native Americans arose. Perhaps the most famous clash between Native Americans and the United States military occurred in Montana on June 25, 1876. On that day, Sioux and Cheyenne defeated Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer‘s 7th United States Cavalry regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. A year later, Nez Percé Chief Joseph surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana. Lured by copper in the 1880s, mining brought even more settlers to Montana. Rich grazing lands for cattle and sheep attracted other pioneers. Each of the states in America, with the exception of the original thirteen, Texas, and California, was first organized as a territory before achieving admittance to the Union as a state. Originating with the Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, the territorial system provided the expanding U.S. with a method to govern frontier areas until they gained sufficient population and economic maturity to qualify for statehood. Not surprisingly, residents of frontier territories usually demanded quick admission to statehood so they could gain full control of their local governments. Montana was a territory for 25 years – from the creation of Montana Territory in 1864 until the territory was admitted to statehood in 1889. On November 2, 1889, North and South Dakota were added to the Union as the 39th and 40th states, the first time in history that two states were admitted on the same day. Montana became the 41st state on November 8, predating Washington, the 42nd state, by only three days. Flag makers were not in the business of making out-of-date flags. As a result of these rapid changes in the number of states, only a small number of 41-star flags or commemorative items were ever produced, thereby making any 41-star flag exceedingly rare. CONDITION: Good condition. This flag is printed, with a hemmed headband and fly end in a running stitch...

39 star silk statehood flag. 23 1/2" x 15". Was the unofficial North Dakota Flag. As South Dakota was also admitted as the 40th state on the same day this...

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...

A pair of fine engravings of two Swedish monarchs by Samuel Blessendorf for Puffendorf’s History of Sweden, in antique birch frames, 1663 and 1696. Engravings of Swedish King Karl X Gustav (b. 1622 - d. 1660) dated 1663 and his successor, King Karl XI (b. 1655 - d. 1697) from 1696 by Samuel Blessendorf, a Prussian enamel painter and engraver, born in Berlin in 1670. He designed and engraved these portraits for Puffendorf’s History of Sweden by Freiherr Samuel von Pufendorf (1632-1694), Historiographer to King Karl X of Sweden. Freiherr Samuel von Pufendorf (b 1632 – d 1694) was a German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and ennobled in 1684 when he was made a baron by Charles XI of Sweden a few months before his death at age 62. Among his achievements are his commentaries and revisions of the natural law theories of Thomas Hobbes...

John Hall (1739-1797) William Penn's Treaty With The Indians After Benjamin West, Published by John Boydell, 1775 London, Engraving 17"-inches x 22 1...

Unique carved Folk Art panel, dated 1768, depicting a double portrait of mythological kings, whimsically portrayed in miniature stature with protruding beards and chests, from an 18t...

13 Star American parade flag in an extremely rare design, with “protection to home industries” slogan on a fanciful, scrolling streamer, made for the 1888 presidential campaign of Benjamin Harrison; formerly in the collection of Richard pierce. 1888 Benjamin Harrison campaign flag, printed on cotton, with 13 large stars in a 3-2-3-2-3 pattern, upon which a whimsical, scrolling streamer is superimposed that features the slogan: “Protection to Home Industries.” There are numerous styles of both documented and undocumented, red, white, and blue bandanas and handkerchiefs, made for Harrison’s campaign in this year, as well as from the subsequent one, in 1892. Most bear variations of text to support the “Protection for American Industries” platform of the Republican Party. America was in the midst of the industrial age and there was a great deal of public interest, both in protecting growth and discouraging both imported goods and immigration. The constant stream of immigrants posed great challenges for a working families, competing for scarce jobs, in work environments that were already often far from ideal. In post-Civil War America, many of the working men were Civil War veterans. Bandanas abound from Harrison’s Campaigns, but flags do not. This example, along with three others, were once part of an 1888 patriotic quilt that was disassembled by a dealer and sold piecemeal to collectors. I eventually acquired all four. Fifteen to twenty years ago, these were the only four known copies. A couple of others have since surfaced, but the total count known still stands closer to 5 than 10. The use of 13 stars is seen in the flags of various candidates in the 19th century. Among these are Abraham Lincoln (1860 campaign), Henry Clay (1844 campaign), John Fremont (1856), and Benjamin Harrison’s grandfather, William Henry Harrison...

41 STARS IN A LINEAL PATTERN WITH OFFSET STARS THAT CREATE A CROSSHATCH IN THE CORNERS AND CENTER, ONE OF THE RAREST STAR COUNTS AMONG SURVIVING FLAGS OF THE 19TH CENTURY, REFLECTS MONTANA STATEHOOD IN NOVEMBER, 1889, ACCURATE FOR JUST 3 DAYS: Numerous flags appeared with unofficial star counts in early America, produced by flag-makers in anticipation of the addition of more states. The 41 star flag...