Albumen print boudoir photograph on tan card mount, titled in period pencil on verso: "Paul Jones Flag & Sword". Cottage City (Oak Bluffs), Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, ca. 1880s - 1890s. Print measures 5 x 7 3/4 in.; card mount 5 1/4 x 8 1/2 in.

Offered is a legendary photographic document of late 19th-century patriotic folklore.

Mrs. Harriet R.P. Stafford stands in her parlor holding an 18th-century naval boarding cutlass and flintlock musket, flanked by the draped 13-star "Stafford Flag" displayed on an easel. Long promoted by Mrs. Stafford as the ensign saved from the sinking Bonhomme Richard during John Paul Jones's epic 1779 clash with the HMS Serapis, the relics were presented to the Smithsonian Institution in 1898. Subsequent scholarship and Smithsonian curators determined the flag post-dated the battle (likely War of 1812 era), while Jones's actual colors went down with the ship. Despite the debunked provenance, the Stafford banner remains a cornerstone artifact of Centennial-era American flag mythology and relic culture.

[Boudoir Photograph, Albumen Print, Mrs. Harriet Stafford, John Paul Jones, Bonhomme Richard, Stafford Flag, 13-Star Flag, Boarding Cutlass, Flintlock Musket, Smithsonian Institution, Martha's Vineyard, Oak Bluffs, Vexillology, Historical Lore]

Very good condition. The print displays warm, even tones with clear definition throughout. The mount shows minor corner softening and light edge wear.