SCARCE SOUTHERN 13 / 16 STAR PROTO-CONFEDERATE "INCLUSIONARY" FLAG WITH TENNESSEE ASSOCIATION, cotton linen throughout, the cornflower blue canton with hand-stitched double-appliqued five-pointed stars arranged in an irregular pattern, 13 to one side and 16 to the other, fly with seven alternating red-and-white stripes. Conservation mounted in a modern frame. 1860 - 1861. 41" x 66" object, 46" x 72 5/8" OA.
Provenance: The Important Americana Collection of Barbara M. and the late Charlie Hunter, Staunton, VA.
Cowan's Auctions, 5/20/2004, lot 582.
Catalogue Note: The present Proto-Confederate flag is an example of what scholars such as Howard Madaus have termed "vernacular inclusionary" flags. These secessionist-sympathetic flags, believed to have been made in late 1860 and early 1861, are generally modeled on the "stars and stripes" formula, but "include" a smaller selection of stars, intended to represent Confederate states - that number being itself in flux at the time. In this instance, the seven stripes represent the original seven states to secede. It is important to note, however, that proto-Confederate flags of the period exhibit widely varying star and stripe counts - a natural result given the absence of a formally adopted uniform flag design during the earliest period of the Confederacy. As Howard Madaus describes the phenomena, "[t]hese flags are termed 'vernacular' because they are the product of the average southerner, and not the Confederate government, and 'inclusionary' because the persons making them included the number of stars into the canton that he or she thought should be 'included' in the still-to-be-devised Confederate national flag, and not necessarily the number of states that actually had seceded or joined the nascent Confederacy." The sixteen stars laid out on one side of the present flag likely indicate a Tennessee (the sixteenth state) origin or association.
Shipping Note: IN-HOUSE SHIPPING IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THIS LOT. Please contact our local UPS store store6595@theupsstore.com for information on shipping or see our website for a list of third-party shippers https://www.jeffreysevans.com/buying/pick-up-and-delivery.
Excellent overall condition with very minor repairs to canton and fly. Not examined out of frame.