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THBLieutenant Aaron Walcott, 3rd Massachusetts Battery, Oil Portrait with Soldier's Memorial
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveNov 17, 2017 - Nov 18, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (372)
- Lot Description
Lot of 4, featuring ca 1860s oval bust civilian portrait of Bostonian Aaron Francis Walcott (1836-1907) contemporaneously over-painted in military style frock coat showing second lieutenant straps erroneously rendered in blue by an unknown itinerant artist, 25 x 30 in., housed in a modern gilt relief frame, 31.75 x 36.75 in. Identified on the back of the canvas in large brushed letters is "2nd Lt/Aaron Wolcott (sic)/3rd MV/Battery." At the bottom of the canvas is a partially obscured (canvas?) retailer's stencil that reads, "From ? Adams/? Washington St./Boston" in block letters. Accompanying the painting is a lithographed Soldier's Memorial Roster for the hard fighting "Battery C/Mass. Light Artillery" listing Aaron Walcott under the battery's sergeants with service notations ending "in command of Bat. since June 16, 1863," 21 x 24.5 in., framed, 24.75 x 28.5 in., matted with archival glass. Further, an envelope containing two period manuscript documents comprising a short endorsement for Private David B. Boynton signed "A. P. Martin/Late Capt. 3rd Mass. Battery," along with a related five-line note dated "April 14, 1818" excusing a militiaman named David A. Boynton from further service due to an "infirm constitution."
The oil painting of Walcott shows the original long lapels of a blue-black civilian frock coat of a well-to-do gentleman. The coat has been "militarized" presumably at the start of the war with shoulder straps and brass military buttons, perhaps intended for the parlor of Aaron's wife, Harriet Maria Adams Walcott, whom he married in 1858. The period over-painting is well executed but evident upon close inspection. The unique wartime “Soldier's Memorial” was published in April 1864 by J.C. Fuller & Co., Baltimore and lists numerous printed battles of the Army of the Potomac including Gettysburg as well as the many bloody engagements of 1864 hand-inked in the lower right by a proud soldier-survivor. The endorsement is autographed by Augustus Pearl Martin (1835-1902) who compiled a stellar military career commanding 5th Corps artillery and later in 1884 as Mayor of Boston.
Twenty-five year old Aaron Walcott enlisted in the 2nd Massachusetts Battery as a private in July 1861. He transferred to the 3rd Mass. Battery in December 1861 as 2nd lieutenant dating this portrait and joining his pre-war pard Captain A.P. Martin, commanding. In October 1862 Walcott was promoted to 1st lieutenant and later led the battery at Gettysburg while Martin commanded the artillery of the 5th Corps including Charles Hazlett's Regular battery on Little Round Top. According to the O.R.'s Walcott's Battery mustering six Napoleons was primed to engage when during the chaos it was mysteriously ordered by an anonymous staff officer to another part of the Gettysburg field. Thus separated from the rest of the 5th Corps Artillery, Walcott's Battery still sustained six casualties during the epic fight but not the tenor of immortality bestowed upon the tenacious victors of Little Round Top. By the time Walcott mustered out on September 16, 1864, he had been "engaged in 23 battles, in one of which his horse was shot from under him and a bullet passed through his hat."
Following the war Walcott returned to Boston and was engaged as a merchant tailor, then going into the real estate business. In the wake of the great Chicago Fire, Walcott relocated to that destroyed city in 1872 seeking to capitalize on the massive rebuilding effort then attracting the entire fabric of American society to the blackened opportunity.
Here, Walcott took up real estate and opened a storage business. He later became active in politics and was elected a deputy sheriff, a position he held for eight years. He achieved a lofty status in Chicago society during his 18-year residence rising to Commander of the city's premier cathedral-like U.S. Grant Post of the GAR, and senior Vice-Commander of the GAR of Illinois. He was Regent of the Alcyon Council, Royal Aracanum of Chicago, and the original founding Secretary of the Union League Club of Chicago, still in existence today where another portrait of Aaron Walcott hangs.
Walcott returned to Melrose, MA in 1900 where he died on December 11, 1907 at age 71 of chronic Bright's Disease. An illustrious life lived, his remains were interred in the Forest Hill Cemetery, Boston, Lot 5182, Section 28. Aaron's wife, Harriet Maria Adams Walcott, would live to the incredible age of 102 and was buried next to her husband in 1942. Oral history relates that the painting was found in Maine where one of the couples three children lived.
The painting measures 30 x 25 in. housed in a modern gilt relief frame showing several patches of old repairs on the canvas verso. The Soldiers Memorial is 24 1/2 x 21 inches in a modern frame 24 3/4 x 28 1/2, matted with archive glass. The wartime Martin signed endorsement is 7 3/4 x 7 while the earlier medical note is 7 3/4 x 4, both pieces of paper folded with separations at the creases.Condition
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Eliminate the Hassle of Third-Party Shippers: Let Cowan's Ship Directly To You!
If you'd like a shipping estimate before the auction, contact Cowan's in-house shipping department at shipping@cowans.com or 513.871.1670 x219.
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