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  LARGE, BLOCK-PRINTED, 1876 CENTENNIAL BANNER WITH EAGLE MEDALLION; ONE OF THREE KNOWN EXAMPLES, THE ONLY ONE IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 64" x 56.5"
Flag Size (H x L): 52.5" x 45"
Description....:
LARGE, BLOCK-PRINTED, 1876 CENTENNIAL BANNER WITH EAGLE MEDALLION; ONE OF THREE KNOWN EXAMPLES, THE ONLY ONE IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE:

This Extraordinary block printed textile would have hung at the 1876 Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia. It's arguably the most graphic of anything known to exist in centennial textiles and in the only one known of its kind in this color. Two others are known, but both are black backgrounds and are printed with a different color schematics. One of these resides in the collection of the Smithsonian and is documented in "Threads of History" by Herbert Ridgeway Collins, (Smithsonian Press, 1979) as plate # 433 on page 205. The other is in private hands and I owned it briefly.

The background is white painted muslin or extra fine canvas. The graphics are dominated by the circular medallion in the center, where there is a large eagle with crossed flags in its talons. The star and stripe counts on these are purely decorative. Note that there are 37 states represented in the decorative border that surround the center medallion. This does not include Colorado, which gained statehood on August 1st,1876, but which did not official receive a star on the American National flag until July 4th, 1877. Colorado is typically included on flags and patriotic textiles, however, and it is somewhat unusual for it not to have been represented here. It may well be that the design was created as much as a year beforehand, commissioned during the great amount of planning that would have been necessary to orchestrate the massive World's Fair that was the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Presuming that was the case, Colorado's statehood may not have been anticipated.

Mounting: This is a sandwich mount between 100% cotton velvet and U.V. protective acrylic. The mount has been placed in a black-painted, hand-gilded and distressed, Italian molding.

Condition: There is general wear with associated loss around the perimeter. Expertly painted patches were placed behind the top two corners to mask slightly larger losses in each of these two places.
Collector Level: Flags for the truest Patriots. My best offerings
Flag Type:
Star Count: 37
Earliest Date of Origin: 1876
Latest Date of Origin: 1876
State/Affiliation: Pennsylvania
War Association:
Price: SOLD
 

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