November 17, 2020 Early Arms & Militaria: Age of Exploration, Empire & Revolution
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/17/2020
A fine American volunteer artillery uniform coatee of the late Antebellum period, 1851-1861. The single-breasted coat is cut “swallowtail” form and the body is of grey superfine broadcloth, with the skirt linings and turnbacks of black superfine. The interior of the front panels are interfaced with narrow strips of grey superfine and breasts and sleeves lined with polished brown cotton twill, with hand-worked pad-stitching securing it to the cotton wadding underneath on the breast. There is one “long” slashed pocket in the buttons on the coat are all 2-piece, convex, brass Federal artillery eagle buttons with ‘A” in the shield on breast. The 10 large buttons down the breast and those on pockets and hips are all 3/4" diameter and with pre-Civil War backmarks: “W. H. HORSTMANN & SONS /PHI” (Albert type AY79A5), while the 5/8" diameter buttons on collar and cuff flaps all with Horstmann backmarks (not fully discernable due to tight attachment to component parts of coat). The standing collar is 2-1/4" high, while the length of the coat at center back is 34-1/2" from bottom of collar to bottom of skirts. The breast measure is approximately 34-36" and the waist 30". Each side of the standing collar is finished with two 4-1/4" long buttonholes of doubled, 1/2" wide, gold lace and with small artillery buttons at the ends and edged round with 3/16" wide black “Prussia binding” (heavy soutache braid of mohair braid of herringbone form). The breast is edged with black Prussian binding and closed with 10 large artillery buttons, with corresponding, long buttonholes on each side of the same black Prussia binding, doubled and terminating in “crows-foot” knots. The diagonally-set, scalloped false pockets on each skirt have two paired buttonholes of gold lace and are edged with Prussian binding. The slashed and scalloped “slash” cuffs are similarly edged, and have three, equidistant, small artillery buttons, each with corresponding gold lace holes. Each shoulder is fitted with an inset brass stud near the sleeve and a corresponding worked silk looping near the collar for attaching of brass shoulder scales or epaulettes. An extremely handsome uniform for an as-of-yet unidentified Antebellum artillery unit; a number of mid-19th century volunteer artillery units adopted grey uniforms, such as the Washington Grays Artillery of New Orleans, the Washington Grays Artillery of Philadelphia and the artillery section of the 7th New York “Grays.” CONDITION: Complete and in very good, supple condition; there are two, tiny moth holes on the back (one mended) and two 1/4" spots of rust staining on the left breast with a small area on the underside of the right sleeve panel with similar staining. JLK
Item Dimensions: 40 x 19"