Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -
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Sale 2708 - Lot 153

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(NEW YORK CITY.) Silver bust of Senator "Big Tim" Sullivan. Cast silver bust, 4¼ inches high, 3¼ inches across, inscribed "Hon. T.D. Sullivan," with manufacturer's stamp and "Sterling" at rear; mounted on a later stone base. New York: Mauser Manufacturing Company, [April 1901]
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Timothy D. "Big Tim" Sullivan (1862-1913) was a larger than life figure in New York City's Tammany Hall Democratic political machine. Born to Irish immigrants in the notorious Five Points district, began his career as newsboy and shoe-shine boy, but came to own a sprawling entertainment empire of saloons, vaudeville theaters, race tracks, and nickelodeons. He served almost continuously in either the state legislature or the United States House of Representatives from 1894 to 1913, and is best known for introducing the state's 1911 gun control law, the Sullivan Act. He was involved in every manner of voter fraud, vice, and corruption, but was also an advocate of trade unions and women's suffrage.

This bust was a party favor given out at a dinner in Sullivan's honor on 20 April 1901, described in the following day's New York Times. Big Tim was presented with a gift of a six-foot silver loving cup on a base of Mexican onyx (sadly, not included with this lot). The presentation table showing the busts and loving cup was illustrated in the 29 April 1901 issue of the Tammany Times. Although 50 attendees received this bust, we have traced no other extant examples.

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