LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Civil War Grand Format Auction #663  / 

72197

Gen William Mahone's Sterling Silver Centerpiece

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Gen William Mahone's Sterling Silver Centerpiece
<B>General William Mahone's Sterling Silver Centerpiece and Ladle bearing the Mahone Brigade Emblem </B></I>General Mahone designed a badge for his Confederate Civil War brigade using a shield with a five-pointed star in the center. Mahone and his men wore that storied emblem throughout the war. The general carried the emblem into his private life making the shield and star his personal 'coat of arms' by adding the initial 'M' in the center of the star. He used the emblem on his personal stationary, his silver, and even on his tomb in Petersburg, Virginia, not far from the site of the engagement that made him famous, the Battle of the Crater.<BR><BR> His crest is featured on this magnificent sterling silver centerpiece and punch ladle crafted by the New York silversmiths Ball, Black and Company. The towering centerpiece served as the focal point of the general's table. It bears the company mark, “New York”, and “English Sterling”. The centerpiece measures 13” in height and almost 11” across the top of the bowl. Decorated with portrait medallions of Greek warriors at the top of each of the three supports from the base, the centerpiece weighs almost fifty ounces. Ornate engraving adorns the top of the bowl with intricate floral work around the outside rim. The design incorporates two Mahone Brigade emblems on each side of the rim.<BR><BR> The wonderful ladle has a realistic mermaid at the handle and a gilt clamshell bowl. The ladle is clearly marked “Ball, Black & Co.” and “Sterling Silver”. The Mahone crest is engraved on the reverse of the mermaid. <BR><BR>The artisans at Ball, Black, and Company crafted this centerpiece and ladle shortly after end of the Civil War, using the more desirable “English Sterling” (referring to .925 silver) rather than coin silver that predominated prior to the war. In 1876 the company became Black, Starr, and Frost. The company used the. They are magnificent examples of the fine silver used by the general at family and social occasions. <BR><BR><B>Provenance:</B></I> The Tharpe Collection of American Military History<BR><BR><B>Published:</B></I> <I>North South Trader's Civil War </B></I>- Volume XXIV, Number 6<BR><B>Exhibited:</B></I> <I>The Liberty Heritage Society Museum</B></I>*****<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Miscellaneous Collectibles, Smal (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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