(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION) Charleston slave tag issued to a ser

Sale 2534 - Lot 25

Price Realized: $ 3,000

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Charleston slave tag issued to a servant in 1824. Copper tag, 2 x 2 inches, stamped "Charleston / 1824 / Servant / No. 1113 / Lafar"; sharp and legible, original patina and light corrosion, bent and straightened with just a trace of a 1/4-inch crack at center. Charleston, SC, 1824

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Additional Details

Slave registration tags or badges were used in Charleston, SC from the late 18th century through 1865. The present example was issued to a household servant, who would have been required to wear the tag around their neck while hired out to another owner. The present example was made by Charleston smith John Joseph Lafar (1781-1849). Very similar badges with different serial numbers can be seen illustrated in Swann's 30 March 2017 catalogue, lot 112, and on page 103 of E. Miller Burton's "South Carolina Silversmiths 1690-1860.'' Provenance: Stack's Bowers auction, 6 September 1995, lot 71, to the consignor.