1147

NY,New York City-,George Law Broadside

Currency:USD Category:Art / General - Posters Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 USD and UP
NY,New York City-,George Law Broadside
Preview
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite#309
Reno, NV 89511
Thursday August22, 10am-6pm
* Preview also available by appointment

Live Auction
Friday & Saturday
August 23 & 24, 2013
9am PDT starting time, both days

Location
Atlantis Casino & Resort
Grand Ballroom #4
3800 S. Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502

Lot Pick Up
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite #309
Reno, NV 89511
Sunday August 25, 10am-1pm

c1850-This wonderful, original broadside appears to date from the 1852 to 1854 period. After Dec of 1854 the captains of the SS George Law were Captain Fox, Captain Gray and finally Captain Herndon, who also later stewarded the SS Central America. Not much is known about Captain A.E. Shaw. The printer of this broadside, Francis Hart of New York, made it for public viewing probably in about 1852 or 1853. The wonderfully detailed woodblock print that stretches from side to side represents the SS George Law and hence the SS Central America, but fine details in the print that the Hart attempted to remove in 1852 indicate that the woodblock was originally made for an image of the SS Alida. The Alida was built in New York in 1847 and was of a similar size to the SS Central America. The author believes this to be the only known period broadside of the SS Central America in existence. A must-have for the complete collection of important Gold Rush memorabilia. Framed, it measures 24 by 18.5 inches and is in very good condition.
IMPORTANT ADDITION:
The wording of the description above has caused some confusion with collectors. We will outline the pertinent information below:
1. The broadside definitively dates to the early 1850s because of the printer`s identification at the base of the broadside. Francis Hart had his print shop at 167 Washington Street through the 1850s. After 1857, Hart took in a partner, became Hart & Company, and moved their front door to Courtlandt Street. This information is consistent with a biography of Hart, published on the web and with a series of New York directories in our office.
2. The vignette of the ship is a gorgeous, wood block print of the Steamer Alida, as evidenced in weak writing in the flag off the stern, which Hart slightly obscured to use for this George Law broadside. It was common at the time in advertising to use a diagrammatic representation of a steamship, regardless of whether it looked like the actual steamer the printer was advertising. The Alida was launched in 1849 in New York and remained in service until it sank in 1875.
3. There is confusion regarding this 1849 New York origin Alida and an 1870 launched ship on the Pacific out of Seattle of the same name. There is currently an early print on the web at another auction house of the Alida, misidentified as the Pacific Northwest Alida, when in fact it is the original New York Alida. The following link shows a painting of the New York Alida, identical to this broadside, dated 1848 (1849?) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Alida_%28steamboat_1847%29_03.jpg
4. This George Law must be a smaller local steamer in New York waters at the same time as the larger, deep sea worthy George Law that was berthed off the tip of Manhattan in the 1850s, later renamed the SS Central America.
5. This original broadside remains a wonderful collectible, related to the SS Central America`s first name, the George Law, although it is not the exact same ship. HKA#55506