This rare white kid leather glove carries printed portrait medallions of George Washington and Lafayette, captioned Lafayette – Grateful Welcome to the Friend of our Illustrious Washington, Duty entered According to Act of Congress.
It came for sale with an old letter of provenance inscribed Lafayette Glove, Presented to George Starbuck by Mrs. Myers, who received it from the United States of America – I believe. Mrs. Myers is the wife of one of the Ministers.
This glove, a type often worn by women who met Lafayette during his tour, came for sale via Catherine Southon (20% buyer’s premium) at Farleigh Court Golf Club, Selsdon, Surrey, on February 8 with an estimate of £400-600 and made £750.
It was part of a remarkable archive of material from descendants of the Starbuck family, a Quaker whaling family influential in both the abolitionist movement and the founding of Nantucket as a whaling centre.
Loyalist members of the family emigrated to Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire after independence. Leading the archive was the 60-page album of early 19th century correspondence compiled by prominent abolitionist Samuel Starbuck. Featured in ATG No 2580, it took £23,000.
