Rice Paper Print Declaration of Independence & Early Cotton Gin at Heritage Auctions
DALLAS—A rare and early working model of Eli Whitney’s revolutionary Cotton Gin, a cornerstone of museum exhibits from Michigan to Georgia, is expected to sell for $10,000+ in Heritage Auctions’ Nov. 8 Americana & Political Signature® Auction in Dallas. From a direct rice paper printing of The Declaration of Independence (est. $12,000+) to an original blueprint for Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece “Fallingwater” (est. $12,000+), the auction spans 200 years of American ingenuity, politics, and culture.
“The phrase “museum quality” is tossed around quite liberally these days, so we are pleased to present items that have quite literally been displayed in museums for decades,” said Tom Slater, Director of Americana for Heritage.
The evocative cotton gin dates to the early 1800s and spent more than 60 years in the Atlanta Museum before appearing in the important exhibition "Slavery on Trial-the Long Road to Freedom" at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Additional highlights include, but are not limited to:
- An 1833 rice paper print of The Declaration of Independence from William J. Stone’s original copperplate by Peter Force, (est. $12,000+). From the estimated 500 to 1,000 copies produced, only a few hundred of Force's printings are known to exist today.
- Two items relating to America’s most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, include a signed check as President of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and an original, 28-1/2" x 15" blueprint for the Wright-designed private residence "Fallingwater" (est. $12,000+).
- A striking and highly important American Silk Patriotic Banner, probably of the Federal Period, circa late 1780's, including a detailed forensic and stylistic analyses by former Smithsonian curator and Threads of History author Herbert Collins, and Fonda Thomsen, leading forensic expert in early American flags and textiles (est. $10,000+).
- An extraordinary 1860 Plaster Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Leonard Volk, made from a life mask of the president shortly after he received the Republican nomination (est. $10,000+).
- A flag from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Presidential Yacht “Potomac” (est. $6,000+).
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $900 million, and 850,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.
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