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EARLY SADDLE
VALISE – ca. 1840-1865 – APPROPRIATE FOR DISPLAY ON A
MEXICAN WAR GRIMSLEY OR CIVIL WAR OFFICERS’ SADDLE:
This valise has all the appearances of those associated
with the antebellum era, and is certainly of the style
carried across the border or along the Santa Fe Trail
during the Mexican War period, and would be very
appropriate to complete a Civil War Officer’s Saddle –
both Union and Confederate. While not a regulation army
pattern, this valise would have appealed to officers who
were required to purchase their own horse equipment, and
enlisted men who could afford to add to their issued
equipment or brought this sort of equipment from home.
The Valise, measuring
16” long and 6” across the ends, features copper studs
that decorate the scalloped edge of the flap. The
leather body of the valise is decorated with several
pairs of parallel lines of very fine tooling that chase
around the body of the valise. The leather covered
wooden ends are attached to the body with brass, square
shanked tacks over a thin strip of light colored
decorative leather. The ends have the same fine lines
of tooling as found on the body that radiate out from
the center, and are decorated with a large brass stud
applied over two layers of contrasting leather rosettes,
with a saw-tooth edged decorative ring around the
circumference of the end piece held in place with more
of the brass, square shanked tacks.
As can be seen in the
photos, this early valise has seen use evidenced by the
apparent wear, but it is overall solid with no rot or
deterioration, and it still holds it form without any
need for support. There is wear to the front edge of
the flap and all three closing straps are no longer
present. There is a point of wear through the body of
the valise immediately above the opening, approximately
1” long and very narrow, as if something carried in the
valise wore through at this point. There is one of the
three buckles present. The ends are solid and all of
the decoration on both ends is present and intact, and
the body of the valise is solidly attached to the ends.
The leather body is stiff and I suspect it was made this
way intentionally in order that it hold its shape, as
the leather surface appears to have had an enameled or
varnish-like application, which would have provided a
degree of waterproofing to protect the contents. The
leather is not brittle and with the exception of the
wear to the front edge, the leather is solid.
Valises of this vintage
simply did not survive in large numbers, making this a
particularly scarce offering. In spite of the above
described wear, this valise is not fragile and would
display quite nicely strapped to the cantle of a
Ringgold or Grimsley Saddle, or any one of the many
saddles used by Civil War Officers. $650
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