U.S. 32 Stars and 11 stripes Flag - Minnesota's admission into the Union.
This period homemade example star United States flag was made to indicate the admission of Minnesota as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858 and would remain accurate until the admission of Oregon on February 14,1859, a period of only 8 months, 4 days; correspondingly 32 star flags of any type are quite rare.
This flag, although homemade is partially machine-sewn, perhaps by one of the recent immigrants from Scandinavia who flooded the territory in the decade between 1848 and 1858. Only eleven stripes compose the field, beginning and ending with a white stripe rather than the more traditional red. The 32 stars are set in diagonal rows that expand from one through seven in number and then descend in reverse order. Those stars are neatly hand-sewn to the blue canton, which rests neither on a red nor a white stripe but overlaps the fifth stripe. The 32-star flag was used only during the presidency of James Buchanan.
This homemade 32 star flags history is unknown; it was formerly part of the acclaimed collection of noted antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai (formerly of New York City, and later Amagansett, Long Island), The Mastai collection was the result of fifty years of research, study, and careful preservation by the late husband-wife team. Mastai began collecting in the early 20th century and accumulated the greatest American private flag collection. Mastai's important book, "The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag from Birth of the Republic to the Present," (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1973) is considered an important revelation of the American Flag as artistically and socially illuminating.
Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 59.
Provenance:
• Acquired by Mr. & Mrs. Boleslaw & Marie-Louise D'Otrange Mastai, New York City, and Amagansett, NY, The Mastai Collection, until 2002.
• Sold via Sotheby's Auction in New York City to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2002.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.
Mastai, Boleslaw and Marie-Louise D'Otrange, The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag as Art and as History from the Birth of the republic to the Present, Knopf, New York, 1973.
32 Star Flag - (1858-1859) (U.S.), Flags of the World, 11 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1858.html
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
