[Lincoln, Abraham] | Wallpaper fragment from the President's Box at Ford's Theatre

[Lincoln, Abraham]

Wallpaper fragment from the President's Box at Ford's Theatre 

Burgundy wallpaper fragment (about 228 x 150 mm), patterned with floral stripes and clusters of leaves; linen-backed, horizontal and vertical folds, chips along edges and folds. Matted and framed with carte-de-visites of John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln; not examined out of frame, light spotting and wear to photographs.

The present fragment matches several other extant pieces identified as from the box where the president sat on the night of his assassination. Relics from the assassination began to circulate shortly following the great national tragedy — among them pieces of wallpaper, carpet, and fabric from Ford's Theatre and the Petersen House, where Lincoln died. 

A handsomely framed presentation with portraits of Lincoln and Booth

REFERENCE:

cf The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, item 71.2009.082.0111

PROVENANCE:

William Ure, guard at the Ford Theater at the time of Lincoln's assassination, thence by descent — Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, 30 June 2007