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  34 STARS, A CIVIL WAR FLAG IN THE "GREAT STAR" OR "GREAT FLOWER" PATTERN, HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE JOHNSON-SCUDDER FAMILY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, WITH VERBAL HISTORY THAT IT WAS CARRIED BY A LOCAL VOLUNTEER UNIT

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 58.25" x 62.25"
Flag Size (H x L): 46" x 49"
Description....:
34 STARS, A CIVIL WAR FLAG IN THE "GREAT STAR" OR "GREAT FLOWER" PATTERN, HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE JOHNSON-SCUDDER FAMILY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, WITH VERBAL HISTORY THAT IT WAS CARRIED BY A LOCAL VOLUNTEER UNIT:

34 star American national flag, entirely hand-sewn and made of cotton. The stars of the flag are arranged in a beautiful rendition of what is called the "Great Star" pattern, a large star made out of smaller stars. This design is also sometimes called the "Great flower", a term that I find particularly appropriate when the arms of the Great Star are open and bulbous, as these are, and a large center star makes it appear like the center of a flower.

Sometimes excessive wear on a flag can result in a presentation that is at the same time artful and endearing. That is certainly the case here, where wind shear has caused significant natural loss. Military production flags were generally turned back into the respective state governments that issued them by the units that carried them, thus many survive in deplorable condition. Homemade flags like this one, however, were apparently discarded, because almost none have survived to the present day in this interesting state.

The flag was found in Upstate New York in Oswego County, where it had been handed down through the Johnson and Scudder families. According to verbal provenance, the flag is thought to have been carried by a local, volunteer, Civil War unit. Further research might suggest a more narrow target of origin. The previous owner indicated "the likely townships [as] the southwestern ones, especially Scriba, New Haven, Volney, Schroeppel, Palermo, Granby, Minetto, and Oswego." Whatever the case may be, the visual impact is not unlike a modern painting and the present condition is consistent with its suggested history.

Kansas was admitted into the Union as the 34th state on January 29th, 1861, about two-and-a-half months before the Confederate assault on Fort Sumter that marked the beginning of the Civil War. The 34th star was officially added on July 4th of that year, but most flag makers would have added the star with the addition of Kansas in January. The 34 star count remained official until July 4th, 1863, and 34 star flags would have been produced until the addition of West Virginia in June of that year.

Among flag collectors, the Great Star configuration is the Rolls Royce of the traditional, 19th century, geometric patterns. It probably came about shortly before 1818, when Congressman Peter Wendover of New York requested that Captain Samuel Reid, a War of 1812 Naval hero, help to create a new design that would become the third official format of the Stars & Stripes. The primary concern of ship captains was that the signal remained easily recognized on the open seas. Reid's concept of placing all the stars in a star-shaped pattern would have kept the constellation in roughly the same format as the number of states grew and more stars were added, in a distinct design that could be quickly identified through a spyglass. Though his proposal was rejected by President Monroe, due to the increased cost of arranging the stars in this manner, the Great Star was produced by anyone willing to make it. Its rarity today, along with its beauty, has driven its desirability among collectors.

Mounting: This is a sandwich mount between 100% hemp fabric and U.V. protective acrylic. The mount has been placed in a hand-gilded and distressed Italian molding with a wide, convex profile.
Collector Level: Flags for the truest Patriots. My best offerings
Flag Type: Sewn flag
Star Count: 34
Earliest Date of Origin: 1861
Latest Date of Origin: 1863
State/Affiliation: New York
War Association: 1861-1865 Civil War
Price: SOLD
 

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