AMER AUGUST 2015
The live portion of this session begins on Monday, August 24, 2015.
HISTORIC FABRIC FROM THE WRIGHT BROTHERS KITTY HAWK FLYER FIRST MANNED POWERED AIR PLANE FLIGHT.This swatch of fabric measuring about 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" is mounted on an original printed sheet that other similar swatches are known and have sold in auction, signed by Ivonette Wright Miller niece of Orville and Wilbur Wright and one of the Wright Brother's executors along with husband Harold Miller (see recent sales Heritage Auctions, Lot 47024, 11/17/2009; Bonhams, Lot 4, 3/25/2013 and Lot 187, 9/22/2014 for similar sales). Orville Wright reassembled the famous Kitty Hawk flyer for its first exhibition in 1916 at MIT. Finding the original fabric damaged by the Dayton Flood of 1913, he substituted new fabric and kept some of the original fabric which a sample is offered here. Ivonette Wright Miller had taken her first ride with Orville in 1911 in a Wright Flyer being, along with her two sisters, the first girls in America to fly. Ivonette represented the family at commemorative events, particularly after Orville's death in 1948. She wrote a book about her famous uncles Wright Reminiscences. She kept a large family archive of family records which is now in the possession of Wright State University. Katie Reist, who the certificate was prepared for according to consignor was his grandmother and a friend of Ivonette's. SIZE: 8-1/2" x 10-1/2". CONDITION: Very good overall as framed. Certificate has light fading and foxing around edges. Fabric is sound as originally glued to certificate in its designated mounting square. Right side of fabric shows fimbration and fraying on top and bottom edges of the unmercerized cotton fabric. The largest sample of original fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer is in the Smithsonian Institute's Aerospace Museum described as "Pride of the West" unbleached muslin which was used by the Wright Brothers on their earliest gliders also, found through experiment to be strongest and lightest fabric available for flight. 49455-1 JS (2,000-4,000)