Saturday, June 17, 2006
A British officer captured the flags during 1779-80.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Long may they wave, somewhere.
An anonymous bidder paid nearly $17.4 million Wednesday, Flag Day, for four rare flags from the American Revolution. The remarkably intact regimental standards captured by a British officer in 1779-80 were put up for auction by one of his direct descendants 225 years later.
"These are inspirational, an extraordinary window into the birth of our country," said David Redden, a vice chairman of Sotheby's, which conducted the sale.
Redden said that during wars of the 18th century, the primary targets in a battle were the opposing commanders and their units' flags, as trophies of victory.
"You can imagine the soldiers carrying them, who suffered grievous wounds and made sacrifices to defend what were sacred objects," he said. "You look at them, and you really get a sense of looking at something that has a great deal of spiritual significance."
The final sales price for the four flags was well over Sotheby's pre-sale estimate of $4 million to $10 million. The buyer, who bid by telephone, asked not to be identified, Sotheby's spokeswoman Lauren Gioia said.
Only about 30 Revolutionary War flags are known to exist, and all except the four sold at auction are in museums or other institutional collections, Sotheby's said. Most are in fragments, with only bits of historic information available about them.
The four flags, by contrast, are in good condition and their histories were well documented by Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, a firebrand British officer who captured them in battles nearly a year apart.
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