ZFC Item Section - U.S. 34 Star Flag - Arthur Bullus Bradford.

Exhibits Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.
Exhibition Copy	University of California - Santa Cruz Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit Santa Cruz, CA 7 June 2012 Santa Cruz, CA, June 7, 2012: The Zaricor Flag Collection exhibited 34 flags and artifacts at the University of California Santa Cruz Campus for the Board of Councilors Meeting. 34 Star U.S. Flag, 1st Consular Officer Amoy, China 1861 Date: 1862 Media: Silk. Comment: One of the first U.S. flags made in China, belonged to Arthur Bullus Bradford (1810-1899), President Abraham Lincoln's first consul, to Amoy, (now Xiamen) China in 1861. This was a flag he had made from a silk handkerchief, during his tenure in China. Arthur Bradford and his wife Elizabeth, nee Wicks, settled in Darlington, PA, where he became preacher at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. Bradford wrote articles on abolition for various newspapers, including William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator. His Darlington home, Buttonwood, was an Underground Railroad station, and the daughters spent much time making clothes to disguise fugitive slaves. Buttonwood was an integral link on the route from New Brighton/Beaver to Enon Valley in Lawrence County, and then on to Ohio. The conductors on this Underground Railroad route were mostly local, freed slaves, often working for their keep, until moving to the next station. Because of Bradford's outspoken abolitionist activities, numerous threats were made on his life. Fearing for his safety his wife implored Lincoln to give him a diplomatic appointment. He stayed in China for eight months and returned to the U.S. in 1863 with this flag. Note that the canton has been turned 90 degrees to be vertical instead of horizontal which was the traditional orientation of the canton. Likely the Chinese maker was using a sketch or written description and he made a choice to place the star pattern in vertical rows, almost as if he were doing Chinese calligraphy, a familiar design element. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC2555) at auction in 2008, from the Great-great-granddaughter of Arthur Bullus Bradford, Mrs. Dona McCaughtry Luster, via Jerry Wishart Auctions, Warren, Ohio. www.FlagCollection.com

Exhibits

Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.

Exhibition Copy

University of California - Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012

Santa Cruz, CA, June 7, 2012: The Zaricor Flag Collection exhibited 34 flags and artifacts at the University of California Santa Cruz Campus for the Board of Councilors Meeting.

34 Star U.S. Flag,
1st Consular Officer
Amoy, China 1861

Date: 1862

Media: Silk.

Comment: One of the first U.S. flags made in China, belonged to Arthur Bullus
Bradford (1810-1899), President Abraham Lincoln's first consul, to Amoy, (now
Xiamen) China in 1861. This was a flag he had made from a silk handkerchief,
during his tenure in China.
Arthur Bradford and his wife Elizabeth, nee Wicks, settled in Darlington,
PA, where he became preacher at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church.
Bradford wrote articles on abolition for various newspapers, including
William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator. His Darlington home, Buttonwood, was an
Underground Railroad station, and the daughters spent much time making clothes
to disguise fugitive slaves. Buttonwood was an integral link on the route from New
Brighton/Beaver to Enon Valley in Lawrence County, and then on to Ohio. The
conductors on this Underground Railroad route were mostly local, freed slaves,
often working for their keep, until moving to the next station.
Because of Bradford's outspoken abolitionist activities, numerous threats
were made on his life. Fearing for his safety his wife implored Lincoln to give him
a diplomatic appointment. He stayed in China for eight months and returned to
the U.S. in 1863 with this flag.
Note that the canton has been turned 90 degrees to be vertical instead of
horizontal which was the traditional orientation of the canton. Likely the Chinese
maker was using a sketch or written description and he made a choice to place
the star pattern in vertical rows, almost as if he were doing Chinese calligraphy, a
familiar design element.

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC2555) at auction in 2008,
from the Great-great-granddaughter of Arthur Bullus Bradford, Mrs. Dona McCaughtry
Luster, via Jerry Wishart Auctions, Warren, Ohio. www.FlagCollection.com