February 2024 Auction Ends Thursday, February 29th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/29/2024
Large swatch of silk fabric from the dress worn by actress Laura Keene the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, with bloodstains from President Lincoln. Keene starred as lead actress Florence Trenchard in the play ''Our American Cousin'', performing at Ford's Theatre the night of 14 April 1865. According to multiple sources, but disputed by some, Keene made her way to the President's box after Lincoln was shot, and held the President's head in her arms before medical help arrived. Several people noted the blood stains on her dress in their memories that night and Dr. Charles A. Leale, the physician who attended to Lincoln, stated that he found Keene with the President when he arrived. This large swatch of fabric measures approximately 3'' x 3.625'' with visible staining in at least two sections. Some fraying to edges and fold lines.
Fabric is accompanied by a letter from Keene's daughter, Emma Rawson, who writes to a Mr. Heyward [sic], who was helping her obtain family documents. Letter is dated 29 June 1877, accompanied by an envelope with the printed name of The Hayward Company in New York. Rawson sends the fabric as a thank you, writing, ''I do not know whether you take any interest in relics, but I enclose for Mr. Heyward a piece of the dress worn by Miss Keene on the night of the assassination, and stained with the blood of President Lincoln...'' One of the few fabric swatches from Laura Keene's dress in private hands, with others owned by the Smithsonian and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. With Christie's provenance.
Large Swatch of Fabric Worn by Laura Keene the Night of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination -- Accompanied by Letter from Laura Keene's Daughter, Stating that President Lincoln's Blood Stains the Fabric
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