VERY RARE CIVIL WAR ERA 17 STAR AMERICAN FLAG COMMEMERATING OHIO

VERY RARE CIVIL WAR ERA 17 STAR AMERICAN FLAG COMMEMERATING OHIO

02-23130-6

37.5″ x 42″ all hand sewn, canton has 17 scattered 8-pointed stars, all cotton construction, stripes vary in width between 2.5″ and 3.5″. This almost square flag has long collection history including Thomas Connelly collection who sold 100 of his flags at Sotheby’s in 2002. Flags of low star counts made prior to Civil War are all very rare. This flag most likely made for early war Ohio unit, possibly one of many German descended companies based of the 8-point stars. There are no more than a few antebellum examples, and this is among the most aesthetically pleasing of any example.

PROVENANCE Betty Willis, Mount Morris, Illinois; Bill Samaha, Milan, Ohio; Bernard Barenholtz, Marlboro, New Hampshire; Thomas S. Connelly Collection; Sotheby’s May 23, 2002, lot 99; Nicholas Strand lifetime American flag collection.

NON-GUN