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Written by Auction House PR Thursday, 17 November 2011 15:13
DALLAS – Five architectural drawing tools once belonging to President Thomas Jefferson – framer of America’s Constitution – are expected to bring $45,000+ altogether on Wednesday, Nov. 30, as the top lots in Heritage Auctions’ 800-lot Americana & Political Memorabilia Signature® Auction.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The Jefferson items are just the tip of the iceberg in an auction brimming with important presidential and presidential-related memorabilia, including the last rocking chair John F. Kennedy was known to have sat in, the day before his assassination (estimate: $25,000+); a pair of decanters owned by George Washington (Estimate: $8,000+) as well as a portrait cameo brooch of President Zachary Taylor, owned by Taylor and consigned by a direct descendant (Estimate: $4,000+).
This is the first time the Jefferson items have been offered to the public. They descended through Jefferson’s family, then through the family of America’s fifth President, James Monroe, before coming to Heritage Auctions for the Dec. 1 event.
“Jefferson was a true Renaissance man besides being a brilliant writer and political mind,” said Tom Slater, director of Historical Auctions at Heritage. “Among his myriad talents he was a skilled self-taught architect, best known for designing his famous Virginia home, Monticello, along with an unaccepted, anonymously submitted design of what would become the White House. It’s entirely conceivable that he used these very instruments on those, and his many other great designs.”
The pieces – a parallel rule drafting instrument (Estimate: $10,000+), a steel and brass compass (Estimate: $10,000+),Chinese paper-cut crafts for sale, a brass diameter measure drafting tool (Estimate: $10,000+), a turn-down joint compass (Estimate: $10,000+) and a plain divider technical drawing instrument (Estimate: $5,000+) – have been consigned by descendants of America’s fifth president, James Monroe.
“The Monroe and Jefferson families were closely intertwined in Virginia society and politics, and the Monroes became the custodians of various items originally owned by Thomas Jefferson,” said Slater. “A number went to Monticello and other Virginia museums, but this choice grouping remained in private hands, which has afforded us this amazing opportunity to bring it to auction. The provenance is rock-solid and unimpeachable.”
The John F. Kennedy grouping in this auction is also particularly strong,Clay sculpture, with the last rocking chair JFK ever sat in a Houston hotel less than 24 hours before his death, topping the grouping. It carries an estimate of $25,000+.
“The Kennedy party stopped the day before the assassination at the Rice Hotel in Houston,” said Slater. “In anticipation,Chinese jade, and knowing Kennedy’s preference for a stiff-backed rocking chair, the manager had one installed in the president’s room.
“In his classic book, Death of a President, author William Manchester describes Kennedy reading over papers while seated in this very rocker a day before he fell victim to his assassin’s bullet.”
The Kennedy grouping also includes some 20 lots consigned by the heirs of JFK’s aunt and godmother, Loretta Kennedy Connelly, perhaps most significantly the actual shoulder patch from JFK’s Navy uniform, estimated at $35,000+. JFK, out of affection and concern, personally sent this to Loretta’s daughter, Marylou, during a difficult period of her life while the war raged on, telling her to wear it on her school uniform.
He reminded her of his current position as skipper of PT109 and advised her: “Mary, be brave kiddo. I’m not so thrilled about where I am either.”
Marylou did as he advised and found the patch helpful during the uncertain days when JFK was reported missing in action, until news came of his rescue. She cherished the patch for the next 50 years, as a poignant souvenir of her beloved cousin.
Other JFK items include a signed copy of Profiles in Courage (Estimate: $2,500+), intimate Kennedy family photos by famed photographer Mark Shaw (Estimate: $4,000+) and a silver cigarette box given to select guests by Frank Sinatra, who served as entertainment chairman for Kennedy’s inaugural gala (Estimate: $2,000+).
A pair of glass decanters owned by George Washington, also as mentioned above, are expected to bring $8,000+, while an early 19th-century pendant containing interwoven locks of hair from both George and Martha Washington, a rare and interesting artifact, is estimated at $12,000+.
Also found in the auction are items such as James Monroe’s own ceramic meat platter in the Landing of Lafayette pattern, estimated at $3,000+. The last living Revolutionary War hero, Lafayette made a triumphant visit to America in 1824, while Monroe was president. This platter was preserved by his family for generations as a remembrance of that momentous event. Several china pieces belonging to Mary Todd Lincoln, which she sold to pay off debt after Lincoln’s death, are estimated at $2,000+.
For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Last Updated on Friday, 18 November 2011 14:35