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c.1850-80 Decorative Gutta Percha Plaque Washington Crossing The Delaware

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:950.00 USD Estimated At:1,200.00 - 1,800.00 USD
c.1850-80 Decorative Gutta Percha Plaque Washington Crossing The Delaware
Washington Related
Display Plaque George Washington Crossing The Delaware
c. 1850-80 Ornate “Washington Crossing the Delaware” Decorative Plaque, Choice About New.
Vintage decorative display piece, measures 7” tall x 9” wide x 1/4” thick at its base, with the image being in high-relief on top. It is very similar in style and size to possibly be used for a lid to a large size tintype plate cover, as two tiny central holes into the hard bottom side edge of the base indicate. This Plaque appears to be made out of gutta-percha, a hard rubber/early plastic type material that is hard, yet malleable under heat and pressure for molding. Introduced to the West in 1843, it proved a useful material of the day being dark in color and could be easily molded into various shapes. Pistol hand grips were also made from gutta-percha, since it was hard and durable. Gutta-percha found use in canes and walking sticks as well; in 1856, Representative Preston Brooks used a cane made of gutta-percha as a weapon in his infamous attack on Senator Charles Sumner. The material was quickly adopted for numerous other applications. Rare.

This impressive plaque displays the famous image of George Washington Crossing the Delaware River, along with the American flag and his Revolutionary War American soldiers, to attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton, NJ., on Christmas night 1776. The outer border design has an ornate, vine-like, flowery flourish. There is a very friction from handling that barely detracts from the piece’s high-relief glossy black brilliance against the central matte fields.