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CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH LOT! James Marshall Presentation Silver Server, Photograph and Autograph Ca

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH LOT! James Marshall Presentation Silver Server, Photograph and Autograph Ca
SOLD
2,500.00USD+ (625.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2020 Feb 14 @ 12:04UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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James Marshall ephemera group. Includes a sterling silver server, an original authentic cabinet card photo of Marshall and an autograph card together in an envelope just as Marshall sold near the end of his life to raise money. Photograph measures 2.5" x 4.5" and is stamped "Kies & Brian Photographers Placerville, Cal." on reverse Sterling Silver fowl server engraved decoratively on top with pheasant and filigree pattern, measures 9.5" long in original box. Autograph card signed Ja's W, Marshall entitled "The Discoverer of Gold in California January 19th, 1848" with image of Old Sutter Mill in top left corner. Included with lot is handwritten note with provenance from the Keine-Wirtz family.
According to the consignor and the note that came with this lot, the silver server was presented to James Marshall at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, although we could not find any evidence that Marshall attended the event. The note states that Marshall considered the server an unsuitable gift since he was an old bachelor living in a cabin at Coloma. Supposedly, on March 30th, 1880 he gave the server to Elizabeth Kiene of the Placer Hotel in appreciation of the friendly kindness shown him whenever he came in from his cabin and stayed at the hotel, which was just a few miles from Marshall's cabin in Coloma. The server is engraved "Presented to Mrs. Elizabeth Kiene by James W. Marshall, Gold Discoverer of California at Placerville. March 30th 1880." It is unknown when the server was engraved.

Elizabeth Kiene's obituary published Saturday, May 30th, 1908 in the Mountain Democrat: "Mrs. Elizabeth Kiene, one of the familiar figures in the early history of Placerville, passed away at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. E. Wirtz on Cedar Ravine, Tuesday last, after an illness of eleven days due to a stroke of paralysis, which rendered her helpless. Mrs. Keine was a native of Germany and was 78 years of age; she came to Placerville in 1853, when she and her husband Mr. Motzier, opened the Placer Hotel which stood for years on the site occupied by the O'Donnell building. After Mr. Motzier's death she married R. Keine who died in 1864, after which she and her daughter. Mrs. Wirtz conducted the hotel until 1901 when she retired from business . . ."


Provenance:
Country (if not USA):
State: California
City/County: Placerville
Date: c1876-1880