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Property from the Zaricor Flag Collection: The 20th Century
Lot 222
A 48-STAR LIBERATION U.S. FLAG MADE IN OCCUPIED BELGIUM. Hand and machine-sewn U.S. flag, pieced cotton with applied stars, 49 x 48.5 inches, with museum accession number inked to heading.
21 November 2023, 10:00 EST
New YorkUS$6,000 - US$8,000
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A 48-STAR LIBERATION U.S. FLAG MADE IN OCCUPIED BELGIUM.
Hand and machine-sewn U.S. flag, pieced cotton with applied stars, 49 x 48.5 inches, with museum accession number inked to heading. Colors faded, water stain to right third of flag.
Provenance: Made in occupied Belgium by Madame Edith Coort-Fresart and her three daughters (Marguerite-Marie, Marie-Therese, and Francoise), Liege, Belgium, 1944; presented to U.S. Army Major Arthur Tilghman Brice, XVI Corps, 1st Army, Sept, 1944; gifted to The Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, 1946; acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD, 1996.
Exhibition History: The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict. First and Second Presidio Exhibits, Jan-Feb and May-July 2003; University of California—Santa Cruz Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit, Santa Cruz, CA, 7 June 2012.
The unusual proportions of this flag (it is nearly square) can likely be attributed to its manufacture. According to the accession card created at the time the flag was donated to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum in 1946: "This flag was made in secret by Madame Edith Coort-Fresart and her three daughters, Marguerite-Marie, Marie-Theresa, Francoise, during occupation of Belgium and while their father and husband, Monsieur Paul Coort-Fresart, lawyer of Liege, Belgium, was held by the Germans for his patriotic endeavours. Flag flown from window of their home at 44 Rue de Jardin Botanique, Liege, Belgium at 4 p.m. September 7, 1944 before the eyes of the retreating Germans and advancing Americans as well as the Belgian Maquis who liberated Liege on that date."
According to ZFC notes, Col. Arthur Tilghman Brice, XVI Corps, 1st Army, was assigned to the Coort-Fresart house. When the homeowners learned that he was the great-grandson of Francis Scott Key, the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," they gifted this flag to him. Upon his return stateside, he donated the flag to the SSBHM.
Provenance: Made in occupied Belgium by Madame Edith Coort-Fresart and her three daughters (Marguerite-Marie, Marie-Therese, and Francoise), Liege, Belgium, 1944; presented to U.S. Army Major Arthur Tilghman Brice, XVI Corps, 1st Army, Sept, 1944; gifted to The Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, 1946; acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD, 1996.
Exhibition History: The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict. First and Second Presidio Exhibits, Jan-Feb and May-July 2003; University of California—Santa Cruz Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit, Santa Cruz, CA, 7 June 2012.
The unusual proportions of this flag (it is nearly square) can likely be attributed to its manufacture. According to the accession card created at the time the flag was donated to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum in 1946: "This flag was made in secret by Madame Edith Coort-Fresart and her three daughters, Marguerite-Marie, Marie-Theresa, Francoise, during occupation of Belgium and while their father and husband, Monsieur Paul Coort-Fresart, lawyer of Liege, Belgium, was held by the Germans for his patriotic endeavours. Flag flown from window of their home at 44 Rue de Jardin Botanique, Liege, Belgium at 4 p.m. September 7, 1944 before the eyes of the retreating Germans and advancing Americans as well as the Belgian Maquis who liberated Liege on that date."
According to ZFC notes, Col. Arthur Tilghman Brice, XVI Corps, 1st Army, was assigned to the Coort-Fresart house. When the homeowners learned that he was the great-grandson of Francis Scott Key, the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," they gifted this flag to him. Upon his return stateside, he donated the flag to the SSBHM.