Fall 2023 Premier Firearms & Militaria Auction
November 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th, 2023
This auction will feature an outstanding collection of items spanning multiple categories including Modern, Military, Sporting, & Antique firearms & militaria! Below is just a small grouping of select highlights from the massive offering to be featured in this upcoming sale!
INCREDIBLY RARE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS CORDUROY UNIFORM PANTS WITH 25 REPUBLIC OF TEXAS BUTTONS ATTACHED
02-20192
This pair of Republic of Texas pants could arguably be the finest and rarest uniform pants, with an American history, known to exist today.
According to a textile museum in Washington, DC, the cloth is a silk corduroy likely manufactured in the late 1820’s or early 1830’s by one of two textile mills in New England. The most important defining feature of the pants is the 24 Republic of Texas coat-size Light Artillery buttons that are sewn approximately every 2” down the outside seams of the pants. Originally, there were 20 buttons down each seam; however, 8 buttons have been removed from each side at some point during the long history of the pants. The buttons are commonly referred to as TX-11-A and can be found in the “Record of American Uniform And Historical Buttons” by Alphaeus Albert. The backmark on the 19mm buttons reads “SCOVILLS . WATERBURY . ”.
There are 2 slash pockets with flaps on the front of the pants that likely originally had one Republic of Texas Artillery cuff-sized button at each corner. Only one of these buttons remains and it is referred to as TX-8-Av, and the backmark is RMDC “SCOVILLS . EXTRA .”.
The buttons at the waist and the fly are 4-hole, sew-through bone buttons. Although missing, the buttons that closed the side pockets, front pockets, and rear pockets were likely also 4-hole, sew-through bone buttons.
The waist of the pants is approximately 31”. The length from waist to cuff is about 42”, and the inseam is approximately 31”. There is an interesting flap of corduroy cloth added in the front of each row of buttons, likely to protect the buttons from being snagged while riding or marching. There is a cinching strap at the back of the waist with a 2-prong iron buckle. The pants are entirely lined in a cotton/muslin-like material. There is a 2 1/2″ x 8” piece of coarse cloth, likely made of a linsey-woolsey material, that expands the waist in the rear of the pants. The pocket bags are created from the same material that lines the pants.
It is quite extraordinary indeed that these silk corduroy pants survive, and even more extraordinary that they survive with 25 Republic of Texas buttons, dating from 1836 to 1846, intact.
