Author Topic: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis  (Read 3543 times)

HunterRock

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Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« on: March 13, 2012, 04:15:08 pm »
I have a friend who recently bought this at a estate sale. It seems to be in totally original condition.  anyway there is two pieces of paper with it. one is a half of a page of March 2, 1959 Life Magazine explaining who Allen Francis is. the page can also be found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=jkkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=allen+francis+abraham+lincolns+neighbor+life&hl=en&sa=X&ei=h8JfT4WgOMGtgwej3JCLCA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=allen%20francis%20abraham%20lincolns%20neighbor%20life&f=false   


The other piece of paper says that the picture was given to Allen Francis from abraham lincoln and was hung at the parliament "Victoria British Columbia".

The picture is made of silk and seems to be really intricate.   
I dont really know anything about it.. i looked up allen francis and he was apparenttly a friend of Abraham Lincoln and his brother was Simeon Francis and together they owned the Sangamo journal.

any information would be great!! thanks

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2012, 05:27:58 pm »
BEAUTIFUL!! Can you contact the person who had the estate sale? Does the writer of the paper give his/her name? t would be nearly impossible to prove the provenance of this piece without anything to go on. Also can you show the back of the picture? I'm hoping to see early framing methods. Perhaps a Canadian historian would know of this textile's existance and might have some way to verify that it is what the paper claims.

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HunterRock

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2012, 05:52:11 pm »
ok i took pictures of the back of the picture... the framing deffinatly looks like it is old as dirt.

HunterRock

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2012, 05:54:23 pm »
here is the note and half piece of LIFE that came with it.

mart

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2012, 07:28:17 pm »
Is this done in needlework or painted on silk ??  What you need to do first is to contact the museum that has Lincolns personal collection and see if he ever owned a piece like this !! Keep in mind that items he owned have been reproduced ever since his assination !! Your picture may be an old reproduction !!  And like Tales said I  would go back to the person that had the sale and start asking questions !! How did they aquire the picture, are they related to Allen Francis !! If you can`t get anywhere there,, get the lincoln museum to help you !!  Thats the most important thing,, tracing it to Lincoln !!  Thats where the value is,, the rest is secondary !!

sapphire

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2012, 07:42:30 pm »
Another avenue might be to contact the Consulate General of the US in Vancouver, BC. They may have records of items that were in place at the time Francis Allen took up office in 1861.

Here is a history of the consulate and they do have a 'Contact Us' link in the top right corner.  Worth a shot  ;)

http://vancouver.usconsulate.gov/about-us/history-of-the-consulate.html

mart

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2012, 07:57:47 pm »
Another avenue would be Christies auction or Sothby`s if your plan is to sell it !!  They might help since it would be to their advantage to prove what the note says !!

HunterRock

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2012, 10:17:10 pm »
thanks for the ideas! it is sewn in silk not painted. all the outlining thread is in gold.   

mart

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2012, 06:13:38 am »
Please come back and update us on your findings !!  Its quite interesting to us as most here are history buffs !!

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Picture from abraham lincoln to Allen Francis
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2012, 12:46:45 pm »
The consulate should have a historian that can verify this for you. It would be VERY exciting if it can be proven!
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