Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show 2017

scarce in the 1870s, for some unexplained reason, at least one flag survives with a fantastic portrait of Lady Columbia. Holding a liberty pole and flanked by an American eagle, federal shield and cannon, she is surrounded by text that reads “Centennial” and the dates “1776-1876.” All of this appears beneath the names of “Hayes & Wheeler,” the successful Republican presidential ticket in that year (fig. 14). The same maker produced flags without the “Hayes & Wheeler” text, in two sizes and utilizing four different Lady Liberty engravings, as well as with and even rarer image of George Washington. Less rare, but no less memorable, is one of the most beautiful designs of any period, in which a flag-maker employed 10-pointed stars to spell out the dates of the relevant anniversary (fig. 15). The 38 star flag became official on July 4th, 1877 and remained so until July 3rd, 1890. Generally produced until 4 more states joined the Union in 1889, 38 was the last star count in which many flag makers decided to use circular and star-shaped designs. The diamonds, starbursts, pentagons, and other fantastical arrangements had effectively been retired, and for some reason lineal patterns were growing in popularity across the board; designs were standardizing, even without the encouragement of legislation. Although a direct correlation remains unknown, the fact that flag ethics began to emerge at this very same time was probably no coincidence. There is a fairly large variety of lineal configurations among flags with 39–47 stars, but even circular designs— the most common class of star patterns beyond rows or columns—evaporate during this 1889-1912 time frame. They still appear, but only in instances ranging between scarce and to extraordinarily rare. For instance, there is just one known example of a 43 star parade flag with a circular pattern, and just one in the 47 star count as well. The last of the wreath patterns produced in any significant quantity whatsoever, with greater than 13 stars, is something collectors call the Whipple pattern. With the forthcoming addition of the last two remaining Western Territories of New Mexico and Arizona as the 47th and 48th states, more than 150 designs are said to have been submitted to the War Department alone, in hope of being chosen as first official star pattern. This is to say nothing of those solicited to President Howard Taft and members of Congress. Despite inaccurate reports to the contrary, there was no actual competition and noofficial entries, but interestedparties offeredup suggestions all-the-same through various channels. According to David Martucci, the War Department claims to have considered none of them, even though more than one is said to have matched the eventual design selected. Since this was simply 6 justified rows of 8 stars, however, the probability of several matches out of 150 was fairly high. (Figure 14) Antique American flag with 10-pointed stars that spell “1776-1876”, made for the 100-year anniversary of American independence, one of the most graphic of all early examples. Photo courtesy Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, Inc. W 124 W