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ZACHARY TAYLOR Mourning Ribbon

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Political

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The First American “Embossed” Silk Ribbon!

c. 1850, ZACHARY TAYLOR, Commemorative Mourning Silk Ribbon, Very Fine.
Sullivan/Fischer ZT-M1. 8” x 4”. This piece appears to be starched as it is shiny and stiff. Sullivan/Fischer calls this ribbon “the earliest known example of a ribbon to feature either a gilded or an embossed design and only the second known example... of a multicolored political ribbon. Oversized, grandly ornate, and maudlin (with the alleged last words, ‘I die—I am expecting the summons—I am ready to meet death—I have endeavored faithfully to discharge my duty—I am sorry to leave my friends’), this ribbon provides abundant evidence of the dawning of the Victorian era in American popular aesthetics!” Lovely piece except for a few minor spots. Very scarce and highly desirable.

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