Accompanied by a storied but confirmed provenance, this compass was once owned by American frontiersman Daniel Boone; bidding pointed to $109,375.
Review by Z.G. Burnett, Photos Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
DALLAS – If the objects presented at Heritage Auctions’ Americana & Political Signature sale on February 25 and 26 could talk, their stories would fill volumes. The top lots of this sale witnessed battles, presidential terms and some almost folkloric figures at work during many turbulent years of American history. More than 350 artifacts were offered and sold, totaling $1,465,666.
Leading the sale was a compass that was personally owned by Daniel Boone (American, 1734-1820) and went to a new home for $109,375, more than five times its estimate. “This compass is an exceedingly significant piece of American history,” said Curtis Lindner, Americana and political director at Heritage. “Boone was a pioneer, a frontiersman, whose accomplishments included exploration and settling of Kentucky, which at the time was beyond the borders of the 13 colonies. His curiosity and courage – and at times, this compass – allowed him to explore the world around him.” The compass came with a storied provenance, including its first transference to young Abraham Miller, whom Boone taught to shoot. According to a 1939 article that documents ownership of the compass, it was awarded to the then 12-year-old Miller by Boone when the boy applied this skill to shoot a panther that was threatening his family’s cattle. The article includes an 1864 photograph of Miller at age 81, and passed through at least two more collections after his death before coming to auction. Housed in a rosewood or poplar case, the compass dated to 1770 at the earliest and was in fine condition.
Of 77 lots associated with Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) in the auction, four were signed by Lincoln himself. The highest selling of these, and the second in price of the sale, was a signed carte de visite (CDV) portrait of Lincoln, taken in Washington DC by Alexander Gardner. The likeness was taken with a four-lens camera and is identified in Lloyd Ostendorf’s Lincoln’s Photographs (1998). Signed “A. Lincoln” below his image, the CDV’s reverse is inscribed, “held Pekin, Illinois Fair to raise money for soldiers – in early part of war – probably 1862. Photographs sent by Lincoln and autographed by him.” According to the auction catalog, “A Sanitary Fair in Tazewell County, Ill., [took place] on October 18, 1864, and it was Mrs Mary L. Westerman, an officer of the local Soldiers’ Aid Society, that sent a letter to Abraham Lincoln, insisting he sends a donation to support the fair’s good cause… Her persistence paid off, and a letter to Westerman from John Hay confirms Lincoln sent six cartes de visite signed by the president.” This example is believed to be one of those six, and sold for $106,250.
Boasting a “Mint 9” rating from PSA/DNA, this “A. Lincoln” signed carte de visite snapped up $106,250.
Four other Lincoln-related lots wre bid to the upper listings, including a display containing the president’s signature, the signature of his assassin John Wilkes Booth and a swatch of wallpaper from Ford’s Theater, the scene of the crime. These artifacts were matted with a reproduction image of Booth, pistol drawn as he approaches the Lincolns. The president’s signature was written on a transportation document, and Booth’s on a rental receipt; both have been authenticated, and the assemblage was bid to $37,500.
Also in the Lincoln assassination subcategory was a second matted collection containing a scrap of bandage from the president’s fatal headwound and an accompanying letter from the man who preserved it that achieved $18,125. Another Lincoln artifact was a bookcase used by the future president in his law office in Springfield, Ill., which sold for $30,000 despite missing its two original front doors. Next in the Lincoln category was a Solferino pattern chinaware dinner plate used during this time in the White House that achieved $20,000.
From just before Lincoln’s presidency, a circa 1857 double partner’s desk from the US House of Representatives finished third in the sale at $40,000. Reportedly one of only two examples that has come to auction in the last 20 years, this desk was originally designed by Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-1887), the architect of the Capitol dome, and manufactured by Doe, Hazleton & Co, Boston, Mass., for the newly opened House of Representatives chamber where it remained until 1873. The desk was likely acquired by Nehemiah G. Ordway, N.H., Sergeant of Arms for the House when furnishings were updated in the chamber during the final year of his tenure.
Objects from nautical history were also popular with bidders. From what’s known as the Tumbaga shipwreck off the coast of Grand Bahama Island, a silver round that was 10 inches in diameter and 2 inches thick shined up to $35,000. Described as a “tumbaga” round, the bar was composed of melted down silver and some copper goods from the Indigenous communities pillaged by Spanish Treasure Fleets. The 517-ounce round showed assayer marks, but these were difficult to read due to pitting in the silver.
After being used in the US House of Representatives from 1857 to 1873, this double desk remained in the same collection for almost a century and sold for $40,000.
Another prized artifact was an intricately carved French prisoner-of-war made ship model, circa 1803-15, that had been in the consignor’s family since the early Twentieth Century. The model of a 72-gun ship, third class, was expertly crafted with carefully selected pieces of bone and even showed some red and green pigmentation. It sold with a later wood base and glass cover for $23,750.
Keeping the Presidents’ Day theme, George Washington-related lots joined Lincoln’s in the auction. Similar to a painting by Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1828), the unsigned, full-length portrait of “General Washington at Dorchester Heights” retained a letter from its framers affixed to the reverse, which explained that the “Important Historical Portrait” was probably executed 1820-30, and “the paint handling suggests an artist of some distinction.” The large canvas achieved $31,250. A second unsigned Washington portrait, again after Stuart, was bid to $18,750. Both of these were consigned from the estate of Dallas businessman and philanthropist Cary M. Maguire (1928-2021).
Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Heritage’s DeWitt Collection Americana & Political Showcase Auction will occur on March 30. For more information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.
