A Scarce & Generously Sized Hand-Stitched Appliqué 'Oklahoma' Flag of America c.1908-1912
SOLD
Origin: American
Period: Early-Twentieth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1908-12
Height: 40 inches
Width: 76 inches
The double hand stitched 1908 - 1912 Oklahoma statehood stars and stripes flag in quality cloth with forty-six stars and thirteen thick red and white stripes is well sized with brass eyelets and ink stamped linen hoist.
Wonderfully tactile and soft to the touch, there are one or two holes but the red and blue of the flag have remained surprisingly vibrant, the white now paled and more of a soft ivory, the whole wonderfully evocative of a by gone era.
On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was established as the 46th state in the Union. The new state became a focal point for the emerging oil industry, as discoveries of oil pools prompted towns to grow rapidly in population and wealth with Tulsa eventually becoming known as the "Oil Capital of the World" for most of the 20th century. In 1908, a star was added to the national flag of the United States of America representing Oklahoma, bringing the total number of stars on the U.S. flag to forty-six with the thirteen stripes representing the thirteen original colonies. This variant of the flag was in existence for only four years until the introduction or Arizona and New Mexico in 1912.
A superb antique textile that would look equally knockout framed and glazed or hoisted and hung.