USS CONSTITUTION OLD IRONSIDES WOOD SPAR SECTION. ORIGINAL HISTORIC ARTIFACT

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USS CONSTITUTION OLD IRONSIDES WOOD SPAR SECTION. ORIGINAL HISTORIC ARTIFACT :
$2500.00

Taken from Frigate Constitution by Caleb Pratt about 1860. Rare opportunity to acquire a historic section of the ship.Heavy 12 inch section taken from the Constitution or \"Old Ironsides\" should by on display at the Constitution Museum in Boston! This is not the common restoration piece\'s that were sold by the thousands in 1927! It is not a $295 small 1\" by 1\" cut section sold on ! It is a piece from the estate of the Pratt Family, and it is a sample for maritime museums to study. Likely, impossible to ever find another in size and quality.
This section was taken from the Spar Deck, as the ship was being converted to a training ship. It would be about another 70 years before the famous 1927 restoration piece\'s were to hit the market! That makes this a section that was taken from the ship approximately 160 years ago! The wood itself was likely from the ships original construction, thus making it approximately laid 220 years ago! The pen ink is correct in turning Brown with proper age, and Caleb Pratt, and the Pratt family were influential in Boston, and he would easily have been able to obtain a section of the historic ship through his connections! Will come with a more detailed letter of Provenance ( shown in listing ). How, does one even put a price on any ONE-OF A KIND Navel Artifact from the oldest and most famous Ship in the United States Navy! P.s I have not even gone into the description of Black Tar used for Waterproofing visible on the piece, to the Paul Revere Bronze nail that is exposed, peeking through! The 1/8 circle section....and on and on. Nothing has ever been offered from Constitution like this before!
Authentic USS Constitution relic from her 1857 conversion to a training ship. In 1857the Constitution was moved to dry dock at the Portsmouth Navy Yard for conversion toa training ship. Classrooms were added to her Gun and Spar Decks. The frigate \"OldIronside\" wasrecommissioned on Aug.1, 1860 and moved to the Naval Academy inAnnapolis Maryland. The Spar Deck translates to Masting Deck and Spar refers topoles for masting. This piece has approximately a 1/4 circle where the pole attachedand the tar on the 1/4 circle was for waterproofing. There is a very old hand written(fountain pen) label which reads; \"Taken from Frigate Constitution by Caleb Prattin about 1860\". There is another very old partial paperlabel which is mostly gone andI can\'t make out what the little bit of writing says. This piece came from the well knownPratt family collection while Col. Walter Merriam Pratt was in possession of it. Caleb wasthe great, great grandfather of Walter Pratt and Caleb traveled buying land and collectedthings along the way that he felt were relevant to U.S. History. The Pratt\'s, a Mayflower have along and colorful history in the Prattsville and Chelsea areas of Massachusetts. A 1662book written by one of the first Pratts, Phineas Pratt, entitled \"A Declaration of the Affairs of theEnglishPeople that first Inhabited New England\" sold at sale fairly recenly in the neighborhoodof $250,000. Walter\'s father Hermon Pratt was the Mayor of Chelsea in the 1890\'s and Hermon\'snephew was the famous sculptor Herman Atkins MacNeil. The Pratt\'s knew and associated withmany famous American\'s in business, the military, and socially. They include, George Washington,Abe Lincoln, Paul Revere, Daniel Webster, John Hancock, Gen. Grant, Gen. Lee, and many more.The Pratt Collection was a combination of pieces collected and personal effects that were preservedby the Pratt family. I Acquired this piece and many others from the Pratt Estate which migrated from Bostonto a well known family in San Jose California that had ties to the Pratt\'s. At the time of the Constitutionsconversion Caleb was active in the area of Annapolis near Massachusetts. the very heavy and extremelyhard wooden relic measures, 12\" long x 1 3/8\" tall x 6/8\" wide. There is at least one brass nail tip exposed. Since Paul Revere forged most of the hardware for the Constitutionthere\'s a good possibility he forged this nail. The Constitution relics that come up for sale are always from the 1927restoration, never do you see one from the 1857 conversion to a training ship. This is a rare opportunity to acquirea museum caliber piece of American Maritime History. Guaranteed to be 100% original and authentic as have all thepieces from the Pratt Collection