Rare 19th C. Patriotic Paint Decorated Soldier's Drum w/ Eagle, Sheild, Arrows

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One of the best pieces of early American folk art I have ever owned, an extremely rare & tremendous 19th C. paint decorated folk art drum with an eagle, shield & arrows, C. 1860-1870. The eagle is holding a mustard colored banner in its beak, it is clutching an American shield, arrows & an olive branch in its talons. The shield is painted red, white & blue with a mustard border, to the right of the eagle design is 13 mustard stars, representing the thirteen colonies. The eagle is one of the best I’ve ever seen on a drum, an amazing example of an early folk interpretation. The painted decoration is incredible, completely hand done & original, the detail & design are amazing. The background of the design is a wonderful shade of green, the rest of the drum retains the original finish or varnish. I believe this was made sometime during the cival war or shortly thereafter, possibly made by a soldier. The wooden bands are held in place with a thin rope that has leather tensioners in between each drumskin, the rope appears to have been replaced at some point. Replaced drumskins, ropes and ears, are all expected and acceptable on early drums. The eagle, shield & star decoration is quite large, it takes up the entire front of the drum & meaures 20" wide by 10 1/2" tall. The drum itself meaures 24" in diameter & stands 14 1/2" tall. The bottom read more

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