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Maine Antique Digest, December 2016 11-B
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AUCTION -
11-B
Selling with the original signed note from
Benjamin French, Jr. stating “piece of the coat
stained with the blood of the President. Overcoat
which he wore when he was assassinated Apl 14th,
1865. Rec’d from a Police Officer on detail duty at
the Presdt. Mansion,” a bloodstained piece from
the collar of the coat worn by Lincoln the night he
was assassinated sold for $18,750. Heritage notes,
“French was the son of Benjamin P. French, Sr.,
who was Commissioner of Public Buildings during
Lincoln's administration.”
The life mask is another interesting
means of remembrance especially
when the item in question belongs to
an important figure such as Abraham
Lincoln. Done by Leonard W. Volk, the
8" x 10" x 5" life mask of a beardless
Lincoln was originally modeled and
cast by Volk in the spring of 1860. It
sold for $16,250. Volk also did Lincoln’s
hands and a plaster bust.
This large (36" x 61") portrait flag of Henry Clay features a canton containing
Clay’s portrait that is framed in an oak leaf wreath and surrounded by 26
stars. “Clay and Frelinghuysen” is written in blue on white stripes. It realized
$21,250.
This four-page letter written by Mary Todd Lincoln at a
summer resort, dated July 4, 1867, includes the phrase,
“How I sigh for my absent boy!” referencing the fact
that her son Tad was not with her at the resort. The
letter is written to Master Henry Fowler, who was the
son of her Chicago neighbor and friend Mrs. Fowler,
and a friend to her son, Tad. How sad and ironic that
four years after this letter was written Tad would
indeed be missed. He died at the age of 18. The letter
realized $20,000.
This large albumen silver print of Lincoln’s second inauguration
showing Lincoln delivering his second inaugural address made
$18,750. Included in the image are Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew
Johnson, and Chief Justice Chase, as well as assassination
conspirator Lewis Powell (a.k.a. Payne) and, above, in front of the
second column on the right, someone who bears a strong resemblance
to John Wilkes Booth.
Yet another lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair sold this day
with this example having been mounted by Lincoln’s
secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles. Presented in a
circle of about 20 to 30 strands and tied to a square of
black mourning cloth, this memento sold for $12,500.
Heritage excitedly stated that the James Buchanan
satiric broadside that realized $15,000 “is possibly
the greatest political broadside in the hobby.” At 18"
x 12", the banner was made of yellow paper, but it
did not promote a rally or meeting at a certain place
or time. Instead it was a banner used to make fun of
the opposition—Republican John Fremont, “Know-
Nothing” Millard Fillmore, and abolitionist
William Lloyd Garrison. The banner sold for
$15,000.
Made of plaster reinforced with metal,
this figural group by John Rogers of New
York titled on the base
The Council of War
realized $12,500. Included in the grouping
is General Ulysses Grant pointing to a map
that Lincoln is holding while Secretary of
War Edwin Stanton looks on. The display
piece was very popular when it was offered
in 1867, and it was especially admired by
Stanton, who stated, according to Heritage
Auctions, “In form and feature [it] surpasses
any effort to embody the expression of that
great man which I have seen. The whole
group is very natural and the work, like
others from the same hand, well represents
interesting incidents of the time.”
Even political
stoneware made a
showing. This “Hurrah
for Abe Lincoln” four-
gallon stoneware crock
has applied handles and
stands 11¼" tall. It sold
for $13,750.
Mary Todd Lincoln did
not always have to dress
in mourning clothes.
Selling for $18,750
was this floral beige
silk summer dress
belonging to the
first lady.