Pennant

Object Name:

Pennant

Object ID:

2002.023.02

Place of Origin:

England (fabric)/United States/

Date:

1849-1862

Description:

Ship's pennant. 36 feet long. Plain-weave wool bunting. Hand-stitched cotton. 2" wide piece of wood covered in thick white cotton twill with a narrow blue stripe at wide end; hole in center of fabric and wood. Wider end of the pennant itself is blue with seven white stars. The stars are separate pieces of material sewn onto back of pennant; front has star-shaped holes where the white material shows through. The blue field is 94.5" long and consists of two pieces of cloth, 66" and 28.5" long, sewn together. Remainder of pennant consists of a red stripe on top and a white stripe on bottom, 27' 9" long. The red stripe is made up of three pieces of cloth (9' 11.5", 14' 7", and 3' 2.5"). The white stripe is made up of two pieces of cloth (14' 8" and 13' 1"). The pennant is tied with white cotton cord 4" from the narrow end.

Material:

Textile
Wood
Wool
Cotton

Dimensions:

W-8.75 L-429.5 inches

Provenance:

Part of the Perry-Dudley Family Archive and Shepard Collection. May have belonged to Commodore John C. Long, husband of Mary Olivia Long, daughter of Nathaniel Gilman of Exeter, NH. She is referred to as Aunt Long by the donor's family. Commodore Long was born in Portsmouth, NH, in 1795 and died in North Conway, NH, in 1865. The donor's great-great grandmother Abigail was also a daughter of Nathaniel Gilman.

Credit Line:

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Shepard, Jr., in memory of Mr. Shepard's mother and maternal grandmother

People:

Shepard, Henry B., Jr. (1927-2002), Long, John Collins (1795-1865)

Subjects:

Wool, Stars, Stripes, Flags, Banners, Textiles, Applique, Pennants, Navy