Clay and Frelinghuysen ‘The Same Old Coon’ 1844 presidential campaign flag. Price realized: $49,350. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image.
LiveAucitoneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
“From the never-before-seen Clay and Frelinghuysen 1844 campaign flag, which brought $49,350, to the Alexander Gardner photograph of President Lincoln at Antietam and the Mathew Brady portrait of Robert E. Lee and staff, we were elated with the strong prices realized in Friday’s American History Auction.” said Katie Horstman, director, American history department.
The highest selling lot in the auction was a Clay and Frelinghuysen “The Same Old Coon” 1844 presidential campaign flag, which quadrupled its original estimate of $10,000-$15,000 and sold for $49,350. Two bidders on the phone and Internet battled for minutes over the item, which eventually sold to the phone bidder. This previously unknown red, white and blue silk flag banner depicts the Henry Clay coon in the act of skinning a fox, meant to symbolize Martin Van Buren, in the center.
Rare and exceptional daguerreotypes also garnered high prices in the auction. A remarkable sixth plate stereo daguerreotype by Southworth and Hawes of Samuel Gilman Brown, president of Hamilton College, sold for $17,625. A half plate daguerreotype of a ’49ers mining scene hammered down at $16,450, and a half plate daguerreotype of the gold rush also realized $16,450.
Other photography also had a strong showing and exceeded their estimates in the sale. A History of the Northern Pacific Railroad, featuring F. Jay Hayes tipped-in photographs and a letter from the author, E.V. Smalley, trounced its estimate of $2,500-$4,500 and sold to a phone bidder for $29,375. A rare Gen. Robert E. Lee and staff photograph by Mathew Brady realized $19,975, a photograph by Alexander Gardner of President Lincoln at the Battlefield of Antietam sold for $15,275, and a Lewis half plate daguerreotype camera with a Jamin/Darlot lens sold for $10,575.
Manuscripts and archives also brought competitive bidding. A rare 1844 Southern illustrated stagecoach broadside sold for $10,575, another rare 1791 Kentucky statehood broadside realized $9,400, a Benedict Arnold letter to J. Thompson, dated to 1780, sold to a phone bidder for $5,581.50, and a Civil War diary of CSA Col. George K. Griggs, Virginia 38th Infantry, hammered down at $12,925.
Other featured items in the sale that realized high prices included Blind Tom, the African American musical prodigy’s flute, which hammered down at $14,100. An exceptional collection of over 18,000 cigar labels sold for $18,800, a rare 1863 Gettysburg battlefield map by T. Ditterline realized $5,400, and a Civil War folk art carved pipe depicting the Battle of New Bern from the collection of Jan Sorgenfrei realized $4,500.
For more information about the auction or to consign for an upcoming sale, visit cowans.com or call Katie Horstman at 513-871-1670 ext. 46.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Clay and Frelinghuysen ‘The Same Old Coon’ 1844 presidential campaign flag. Price realized: $49,350. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. ‘History of the Northern Pacific Railroad,’ featuring F. Jay Haynes tipped-in photographs and letter from the author, E.V. Smalley. Price realized: $29,375. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. Exceptional collection of cigar labels. Price realized: $18,800. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. Rare Gen. Robert E. Lee and staff photograph by Matthew Brady. Price realized: $19,975. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. Rare Southern illustrated stagecoach broadside, 1855. Price realized: $10,575. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image.
