Federal Folk Art

This small charming 13-star flag waver was made for and sold during the nation’s Centennial celebration in Philadelphia in 1876. All manner of flags were made for the official Centen...

This small charming 13-star flag waver was made for and sold during the nation’s Centennial celebration in Philadelphia in 1876. All manner of flags were made for the official Centen...

This small charming 13-star flag waver was made for and sold during the nation’s Centennial celebration in Philadelphia in 1876. All manner of flags were made for the official Centen...

Antique American 38 Star Parade Flag, circa 1877, a fine woven linen small parade flag with 38 stars in a bold "Dancing Star" pattern, enacted in 1877 upon the admission of Colorado....

19th Century 39 Star American Flag, circa 1889, a printed linen ensign with 39 stars arranged in a wavy star pattern, with stripes in a very unus...

19th Century American 39 Star Flag, circa 1889, a period printed silk parade flag with a wavy pattern of dancing stars. This was never an official flag of the United States but was m...

Presented is a stunning 13-star American parade flag, dating to 1860. The wool flag has 13 hand-sewn cotton stars with truncated tips. The stars are configured in the “Third Maryland” or “Cowpens” pattern, consisting of a 12-star wreath surrounding a large central star. The flag design is completed with 13 red and white alternating stripes and a white cotton hoist. The flag’s hoist has “Lafayette Post 140” stenciled in selvage. The “Third Maryland” star pattern of a 12-star wreath surrounding a central star is associated with an early 13-star flag that was long thought to have been carried by William Batchelor of the 3rd Maryland Regiment at the Battle of Cowpens during the American Revolution. The flag, now in the collection of the Maryland State Archives, was later discovered by Smithosian experts to date to the mid-19th century. But this particular star pattern is forever linked to that particular 13-star flag and the wreath and central star configuration is still referred to as a “Third Maryland” or “Cowpens” style among dealers and collectors. Thirteen star flags with the “Third Maryland” pattern are among the scarcest and most desired by collectors of early American flag...

This is an incredibly rare piece. Made from Pine with the original dark green paint. Originally used as a store display in the early 19th century. With swollen baluster turnings, cup...

Beautiful federal two drawer blanket chest in the original blue paint ad retaining its gorgeous old dry surface. Beautiful cut apron across the front as well as the sides. This chest also retaining the original brass pulls with Greek key pattern. Height of feet is completely intact. The top is attached with the original cotter-pins. Likely Connecticut This item can be viewed in person at The Berkshire Galleries in Great Barrington...

Presented is a vintage, Bellamy-style, hand carved wooden eagle. This late 19th century to early 20th century wood eagle is bronze-brushed with a painted red, white, and blue shield. It supports a shield in its right talon as the head looks to its left. In its left talon is a bundle of arrows. When Charles Thomson put together the final design for the Great Seal, he placed a bundle of thirteen arrows in the eagle's left (sinister) talon. The official description specifies the bald eagle holding "in his sinister, a bundle of thirteen arrows." The thirteen arrows are tightly aligned – a symbol of "strength in unity" that's found in the traditional cultures everywhere, from the Romans to the Iroquois— in this case a nod to the unity of the original 13 colonies. The clutched shield has a blue chief. Twenty one alternating red and white stripes complete the shield design. With carved detailed feathers and a dramatic expression, this stylized eagle is an interesting work of art. The relief carving is styled after John Bellamy, a well known folk artist made popular in the late 19th century for his stylized eagles and ship carvings...

Antique American 39 Star Flag, circa 1889, a period silk made in the "Dancing Star" pattern, where the stars are oriented at an alternating upright and slanted angle (prior to being standardized by Congress). The 39 star flag was never an official American flag sanctioned by Congress, but was made by states to celebrate the two Dakotas admission into the Union in 1889. The flag is in very good condition, with only a few very small stains, just sufficient to call attention to the age of this flag. Conservation mounted on fabric backing in a tiger maple frame...

This is a stunning 1818 broadside engraving of the Declaration of Independence, the first engraved broadside of our nation’s founding document. The year 1815 saw the conclusion of th...