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  "WE MOURN OUR LOSS": SILK, 1865, ABRAHAM LINCOLN MOURNING RIBBON WITH AN EAGLE, PERCHED ON A FEDERAL SHIELD, BENEATH 13 STARS

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 9.25" x 6.25"
Flag Size (H x L): 5.25" x 2"
Description....:
Lincoln mourning ribbon, printed in black on white silk, made for distribution as the Union gathered to pay their respects to its gallant leader. The imagery focuses on a patriotic, Civil War era adaptation of the federal arms, with a warlike eagle, perched on a horizontal, federal shield, as if protecting its nest. Above is an arched array of 13 stars, three flags with tipped staffs, and the familiar streamer with “E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one).”

In the upper register, the phrase "We Mourn our Loss.” appears in simple, Roman letters. Below the device is the following text: "Born February 12th, 1809. Died April 15th, 1865." A rectangular border surrounds the perimeter and black lines separate the registers.

The ribbon would have almost certainly been worn by a reverent observer as the funeral train made its way back to Springfield, Illinois, retracing the steps Lincoln had traveled to Washington as the president-elect on his way to his first inauguration. Millions of onlookers lined up to pay their respects along the 1,654-mile procession.

Lincoln’s funeral train was dubbed “The Lincoln Special.” His portrait was fastened to the front of the engine above the cattle guard. Approximately 300 people accompanied Lincoln’s body on the long journey, including his eldest son Robert, who went as far as Baltimore. Also on the train was a coffin containing the body of Lincoln’s son Willie, who had died in 1862 at the age of 11 of typhoid fever, during Lincoln’s second year in office, and was being moved in order to be buried alongside his father at the family plot in Springfield.

In 1911, a prairie fire near Minneapolis, Minnesota, destroyed the train car that had so famously carried Lincoln’s body to its final resting place.

Mounting: The ribbon was mounted and framed in our own conservation department, which is led by expert staff. We take great care in the mounting and preservation of flags and have framed thousands of examples.

The background is black cotton twill, which was washed and treated for colorfastness. The antique, gilded molding has a bowed profile and dates to the period between 1830 and 1850. To this a modern, rippled profile molding was added as a cap. Spacers keep the glazing away from the glazing, which is U.V. protective glass.

Condition: There is very minor soiling. There is a vertical weak area/closed split in the upper register, on the right side.
Collector Level: Intermediate-Level Collectors and Special Gifts
Flag Type:
Star Count: 13
Earliest Date of Origin: 1865
Latest Date of Origin: 1865
State/Affiliation:
War Association: 1861-1865 Civil War
Price: SOLD
 

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