Item description for GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, GAR, CERAMIC PRESENTATION CANTEEN, ENCAMPMENT, 1894

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, GAR, CERAMIC PRESENTATION CANTEEN, GRAND ARMY ENCAMPMENT, 1894

Large antique Grand Army of the Republic G.A.R. ceramic presentation canteen. The G.A.R. was a fraternity organization whose members had served as Union soldiers during the Civil War.

The white ceramic presentation decanter is shaped like a Civil War Canteen and decorated with hand painted gilt accents and lettering. Embossed and hand painted in the center of the canteen is the famous G.A.R. membership medal, featuring a gold gilt eagle grasping crossed cannons perched above a red, white and blue American flag. Below the flag is a large gold gilt star. Painted around the G.A.R. medal, GRAND ARMY ENCAMPMENT, PITTSBURGH, SEPT 11^th 94” The lower painted gild ceramic bracket or sling guides for a leather strap has been broken off. It is in very good condition other than some crazing, discoloration and worn gold gilt, all expected considering the age. This round decanter is meant to be hung. It is about 8” in diameter without the neck. Including the neck its 9 ½” high and 10 ½” high.

Canteens like this were presented to delegates at national encampments as proof of their attendance and were sometimes sold by vendors at the encampments. This canteen was large enough to hold a reasonable amount of liquid as hard drinking was common at the encampments as war stories were swapped and shared.

In the years following the American Civil War, veterans' organization such as the Grand Army of the Republic and the Union Veterans Union created iconic souvenir and presentation pieces modeled after the M1858 regulation canteen. Emphasizing their "fellowship in battle" these pieces usually bore the inscription "We drank from the same canteen." These pieces were of various sizes and differing materials ranging from inexpensive pot metal to stoneware and, in rare circumstances, porcelain. The piece shown here is of the highest quality. Made of fired porcelain, it is highly decorated with both hand painted designs and extensive gilding. While the surface glaze shows microscopic crazing, as expected in a piece of this age, the paint and gilt decoration is fresh, bright and at 85% of its original condition. In design, decoration, rarity and historical significance, this presentation canteen, in our opinion, is one of the finest examples of its kind.

Provenance:

The back of this presentation canteen is marked 86.43.152. This number represents the catalog number from the Gettysburg Civil War Library and Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which has since closed its doors.

The Museum was housed at 18th and Pine Streets in Philadelphia from 1922 until 2008, when it closed in anticipation of building a new museum in Philadelphia. Since 2010 the collection has been cared for by the Gettysburg Foundation and stored at the Gettysburg Battlefield Museum and Visitors Center, where artifacts have been exhibited in the main galleries and in the special exhibition for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

In 1886, several Companions of MOLLUS (Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States) began the formation of a Civil War Library and Museum to serve as a repository for their records, relics, memorabilia, souvenirs, artifacts, and awards. A charter and Certificate of Incorporation were granted on May 2, 1888 for the War Library and Museum of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Companion Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States, was its first President. The collection was kept in various locations in Philadelphia until a house was purchased at 1805 Pine Street in 1922 to house the collection and to serve as the MOLLUS Headquarters. The Museum closed in 2008. The collection is the result of over a century of acquisition and conservation of a full range of artifacts, documentary material, books, and memorabilia of the Civil War.

The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia was chartered in 1888, but the Museum’s history and its collection had their beginnings as the Civil War ended in 1865. A group of Union officers in Philadelphia came together after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, fearing that the War might start again. When that concern was allayed, these officers served as the honor guard for President Lincoln’s body as it lay in state in Independence Hall. They soon determined that they could commemorate the sacrifices and service of Union officers by forming an organization, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States [MOLLUS]. With headquarters in Philadelphia, “commanderies” were established in the states that supported the Union during the War.

The collection was created, for the most part, as a result of contributions of MOLLUS members, their families, and the leading citizens of the time. President Rutherford B. Hayes was the first President of what was then called the War Library and Museum. This provenance means that the personal stories, as well as, the war stories of these men can be told through the uniforms, diaries, weapons and other belongings in the collection. A bullet-struck pocket watch and bloody handkerchief tell as powerful a tale of the experience of battle, as the rifle and bayonet; a scrapbook with a letter from home and a lock of hair, as meaningful as a flag tattered by battle.