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Lot 152

BAT MASTERSON PRESENTATION POCKET WATCH AND FOB.

27 – 28 August 2021, 15:00 PDT
Los Angeles

Sold for US$24,062.50 inc. premium

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BAT MASTERSON PRESENTATION POCKET WATCH AND FOB.

Designed in gold with a manual wind movement with day/date and moon phase functions, dial detailed in red and white enamel, measures 2 x 2 7/8in., numbered #57873 on case and movement.
Provenance: the estate of Joe Crain, sold at A & S Auction Company, Waco, TX, February 26, 2011.

After a celebrated career as a Western lawman, Bat Masterson moved to New York City in 1902 to pursue a career in journalism. In 1905 he was appointed by Theodore Roosevelt as US Marshal for New York, a position he held until 1909. This deluxe pocketwatch bears the lawman's name ("Bat") on the case, and a fob that reads "U.S. Marshal N.Y." on the recto and "Congratulations Bat Masterson on your appointment from your many friends in New York" on the verso. It surfaced ten years ago among the Bat Masterson collection of Joe Crain, who had acquired several other signature pieces of Masterson memorabilia, including his walking cane, a sheriff badge, a watch given to Bat by his wife Emma, his portable typewriter, and two firearms, all of which had been originally sold to a collector by Emma Masterson. The revolver in this grouping had a presentation inscription to Masterson from his friends at the New York Morning Telegram, the newspaper at which he worked, and it is possible that the same group also presented the watch to him.

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