April 11-13, 2023 Firearms and Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/13/2023
Historic and very high quality Maryland state seal officer's belt plate worn by CS Capt. John Eager Howard, illustrated by Hartzler, "Band of Brothers", pg. 200, and as Figure B, pg. 113, "Arms Makers of Maryland". 55 x 80 mm. Deeply detailed hollow back wreath and solid central disk with matching "XVII" Roman numeral bench numbers filed on the reverse. Well rendered state seal at center with eagle above and "MARYLAND" in raised letters at top, with nicely done Maryland armorial supporting figures at left and right, and fully legible state motto in raised letters on ribbon underneath, all on a finely lined ground. The wreath has very well defined oak leaves, acorns, and crossed bindings. The side bar belt loops are plain, but were carefully made concave to more comfortably fit the body curve. "No man in Maryland came of more distinguished ancestry," according to one obituary. One grandfather was John Eager Howard of Revolutionary War fame; another was Francis Scott Key. Born in 1834, he had gone to California in the 1850s and returned east, to Wheeling, West Virginia, when the war broke out. He enlisted as a private in the CS First Maryland 21 May 1861, and was promoted, sergeant, quartermaster sergeant, and then commissioned captain in the 2nd Maryland, eventually becoming Acting Asst. Quartermaster, and serving throughout the war. He spent about a year in India at war's end before returning the U.S. and Maryland. 4 of 5 brothers also served in the Confederate army and the fifth, a newspaper editor, spent some time in a Federal prison for his southern leanings, as did their father, President of the Police Board. John Eager Howard died in 1911. CONDITION: Excellent. Pleasing mellow, aged tones with great detail. An historic plate.
Item Dimensions: 3" x 2".