Lot 470
Rare French Print of the Sea Flags of All Nations, Paris, 1798. "Tableau de Tous les Pavillons que l'on Arbore Sur les Vaisseaux Dans les Quatre Parties du Monde Où se Trouve le Pavillon de France," Decreed by the National Assembly October 24, 1790, published at Gênes by Yves Gravier sous la Loge, 1798. Handcolored engraving on laid paper, 23 x 33"; framed to 27 x 37". Pictured at top right and left are sea battles between the French and English which took place in 1778. The various parts of a sailing ship are identified at lower right and and left and at bottom center is a compass rose with a fleur de lis at top. Additional spaces were left on the bottom row for new flags which might appear. A few closed edge tears and expected age toning. A rare print.
Flag sheets were one of the mariner's most important aids in war and peace, because ships needed to know quickly whether friend or foe was approaching. When the American Revolution began, George Washington recognized that Americans had to have a navy to contend with Great Britain, but American ships had no signal of national identification. In October 1775, Col. Joseph Reed, Washington's military secretary, wrote to the agents outfitting the ships commissioned by Washington, asking them to "fix upon some particular colour for a flag and a signal by which our vessels may know one another…." Various flags were unofficially used, including a pine tree on a white background and the rattlesnake ensign. From December 1775 until June 14, 1777, the Grand Union Flag (13 stripes, alternately red and white, with a blue field in the upper left-hand corner bearing the red cross of St. George of England with the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland) was used as the unofficial national flag and ensign of the American Navy, but once the new nation declared its independence, it wanted to divest itself of the British symbols in the canton. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
Estimated Value $2,000 - 3,000.
Ex. The Claude Harkins Collection of Americana; Northeast Auctions, 8/18/2012, lot 309.
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| Realized $3,840 |
