Thread Spool and Sealing Wax Picked Up at Yorktown, Virginia, May 4, 1862

Description

Thread Spool and Sealing Wax Picked Up at Yorktown, Virginia, May 4, 1862 

Recovered from Confederate fortifications following the evacuation of Yorktown by Union forces; accompanied by original handwritten provenance note.

A pair of personal-type relics consisting of:

1. Sealing Wax Stick – Deep red wax stick exhibiting distinct charring and soot-blackening at one end, consistent with heating by candle for sealing letters or documents. The residue and soot deposits clearly indicate period use rather than later alteration.

2. Thread Spool – Turned wooden spool retaining a partially intact orange-and-black “TOWNSEND GOLD THREAD / WARRANTED No. 30” paper label on one end and a remnant side label; wound with original tan-colored thread.

 

Both items are accompanied by an original period handwritten note, reading in part:

“This spool of cotton and sealing wax was picked up inside of an officers tent inside of the fortifications about 5 hours after the evacuation of Yorktown, May 4th 1862. Brought home by Uncle Eben Seave June 7th 1862.”

 

The note ties the discovery to the Union occupation of Yorktown, Virginia, May 4, 1862, following the Confederate Army’s hasty evacuation under General Joseph E. Johnston.  Abandoning the fortifications and heavy guns they had occupied since April, the Confederates withdrew toward Williamsburg, leaving behind quantities of matériel and personal effects.  These two small, intimate objects—sealing wax for correspondence and thread for mending—illustrate the everyday implements suddenly left behind in that hurried retreat.

 

Ht. of wax stick 2 ½ in.; dia. of spool 1 ½ in.

 

Both relics show excellent period patina; wax charred and cracked use and age; spool label bright with edge losses; accompanied by original toned handwritten tag with strong

 

Inventory Number: MIS 330