George Washington Strand of Hair, Plus 

Includes 2 approx. 3/8 in. strands of President George Washington's hair, housed in a modern frame under glass with several flakes of the red cedar case that contained George Washington's coffin. The relics are framed together with a modern portrait of Washington and his facsimile signature, 18 x 22 in. overall. 

The strands of hair were once part of a larger lock of hair presented to Thomas Farmer in 1845 by a young lady employed by a hair braiding establishment on Chatham St., New York. The young lady, who was in the process of making a locket or bracelet from Washington and General Andrew Jackson's hair for a jewelry store on Broadway, gave a lock of the hair to Farmer. The strands offered here were obtained from Farmer's lock, originally accompanied by a letter of provenance, which previously sold at Alexander Autographs on October 15, 2005. Copies of the previous auction listing and letter of provenance accompany the lot, as well as a Letter of Authenticity signed by Ryan T. Mack of Griffin Memorabilia.

The removed pieces from the original outer case that housed Washington's casket in 1799 were once part of a larger piece presented to Congressman Timothy Hedges in 1831, and the lot includes a copy of a letter from Mrs. Paul Hedges, the wife of a descendant of Timothy Hedges, tracing the provenance of the relic, as well as a Letter of Authenticity signed by Ryan T. Mack.