Civil War Folk Art Carved Presentation Vase Identified to 2nd New York Heavy Artillery Sergeants Rust & Downer

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Property of N. Flayderman & Co., Plus Selecte...

By Cowan's Auctions

Feb 21, 2017 - Feb 22, 2017

Set Reminder 2017-02-21 10:00:00 2017-02-22 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Property of N. Flayderman & Co., Plus Selected Additions https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/property-of-n-flayderman-co-plus-selected-additions-2104
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• Lot Description

  Folk art carved presentation vase, made from mountain laurel wood, 2.5 x 3.5 in., decorated with a Union shield and eagle highlighted in gold underneath the words Excelsior, and a floral pattern above the initials INL. Underneath the base of the cup is the inscription: Manufactured from Laurel Wood by Sergts. Rust and Downer Feb. 1863/ Fort Corcoran/ Presented to Miss Laurie A. Rust. 

  Fort Corcoran was a wood-and-earthwork fortification constructed by the Union Army to defend Washington, DC in 1861. It was home to the Union Army Balloon Corps and the headquarters of the defenses of Washington south of the Potomac River as well as the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery.

  One of the carvers or commissioners of the cup was most likely Sergeant Abel A. Rust. On November 18, 1861, Rust enlisted as a corporal at the age of 30-years-old. Prior to the war, he worked as a farmer, mechanic, and laborer. He mustered into the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery, Co. M, on November 23, 1861. He received a promotion to sergeant on July 1, 1862, only to be demoted to private on November 1, 1863. Rust earned back his former position as sergeant on December 12, 1863. He most likely purchased the cup for his youngest sibling, Laurie Ann Rust, while he was stationed at Fort Corcoran. A published genealogy of his family stated the following about Rust, “Slowly, day by day, the time for [Rust's] return grew less to his friends at home, until the time had almost arrived when simultaneously with the news that he was safe came the sad intelligence, ‘He is dead—killed by a rebel shell’…The brave soldier remembered the living and sent back his last utterance in a heaven inspired promise: ‘Tell them I will meet them in heaven’” (Albert Dexter Rust, Record of the Rust Family, p. 278). He died just before the Battle of Petersburg on June 17, 1864. 

  The second person identified on the cup could possibly be Sergeant Joseph E. Downer, who enlisted three days after Rust at Trenton Falls, NY as a corporal. It is highly probable that Downer and Rust knew one another or were friends. On November 23, 1861, Downer mustered into the same company and regiment as Rust, the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery, Co. M. He received his promotion to sergeant on July 1, 1862. Like Rust, he was killed on March 31, 1864 at Pamunkey River, VA.

  
  
  Provenance: N. Flayderman and Co., Inc.

  Condition

  Some fading or wear on the cup on the bottom inscription. Some of the words can be difficult to decipher. Otherwise, it retains most, if not all, its original paint. There is a crack on one of the sides of the cup that was either repaired or original to the piece. 
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