Maine Antique Digest, March 2017

14-C Maine Antique Digest, March 2017

AUCTION -

14-C

Buffalo Bill Cody’s key to the city of

Manchester, England, presented in 1887,

is a metal alloy key housed in a fitted

velvet-lined case; it sold for $7800.

Civil War patriotic silk banner, “The Union, Constitution

and the Flag Must and Shall Be Upheld,” produced by

Foster Porter & Co., London, 30" x 32", tears and stains,

$1560.

This full-sheet lithographed poster featuring Buffalo Bill Cody in

a coach pulled by two dappled horses, U.S. Lithograph Company,

Cincinnati, 28" x 41", conserved, linen backing, some folds, repaired

tears, other restoration work, brought $3900.

This Annie Oakley promotional target card has a printed likeness of the sharp-

shooter and is shot through the heart and also shot edge-on. The 3½" x 5

" card

with creases, light soiling, and wear to the corners brought $2040.

A lithographed poster pro-

moting Dr. W.F. Carver as

the “Champion Rifle Shot of

the World,” perhaps the only

known example, was produced

by A. Hoen and Company,

Baltimore. The 29¼" x 22¼"

poster conserved with linen

backing was sold with a broad-

side advertising a New York

performance by Carver and

with a news article describing

his prowess with a gun; the

grouping brought $10,200.

A lithographed poster promoting

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress

of Rough Riders of the World, with star

sharpshooter Johnny Baker shown seated

with his rifle, was produced while the show

was touring Europe, printed in Paris,

and most likely for exhibitions in France

in 1889 or 1905 and 1906. The 34" x 24"

(overall) poster with the show’s hand

stamp and a French revenue stamp, in

excellent condition, conserved, on linen

backing, sold for $4200.

This carte de visite shows Little Six

and Medicine Bottle swinging from

the gallows following their hanging at

Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for their part

in an 1862 massacre resulting in the

deaths of more than 450 settlers. It was

most likely photographed by Upton or

Whiting, although the carte lacks a studio

imprint. It has the date 1865, penciled

identification, and a two-cent revenue

stamp on the reverse and sold for $18,000.

This albumen photograph of George

A. Custer in buckskins by J.A. Schol-

ten of St. Louis was taken about Janu-

ary 24, 1872, when Custer was part of

a buffalo hunt with Grand Duke Alexei

Alexandrovich of Russia. The 5½" x

4" (sight size) photo in very good-plus

condition brought $3000. The catalog

noted that this is a “scarce original

image, widely copied and issued in

cabinet format after the Battle of Little

Bighorn.”

This albumen photograph of George

A. Custer and Russian Grand Duke

Alexei Alexandrovich has the imprint

of Wisconsin photographer D.F. Barry

but is known to have been taken by J.A.

Scholten in St. Louis about January 24,

1872, when Custer and the duke went

buffalo hunting. It is 9¾" x 6¾" includ-

ing mount and brought $2760.