Lot Essay
A similar flask was sold Sotheby's, January 23-25, 1992, lot 56.
This flask shows a view of the Batopilas silver mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, operated by Alex R. "Boss" Shephard (1835-1902), former Governor of Washington D.C. Shephard commissioned ten of these commemorative flasks, presumably made from Batopilas silver, for mine investors in 1888. One example, given to General Philip H. Sheridan, is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution (illustrated in Charles H. Carpenter, Jr., Gorham Silver, 1982, fig. 161, p. 168. Another example is a the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (illus. in David B. Warren et al., Marks of Achievement, 1987, fig. 223, p. 175). A third Batopilas flask was sold Sotheby's January 23, 1992, lot 56.
This flask shows a view of the Batopilas silver mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, operated by Alex R. "Boss" Shephard (1835-1902), former Governor of Washington D.C. Shephard commissioned ten of these commemorative flasks, presumably made from Batopilas silver, for mine investors in 1888. One example, given to General Philip H. Sheridan, is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution (illustrated in Charles H. Carpenter, Jr., Gorham Silver, 1982, fig. 161, p. 168. Another example is a the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (illus. in David B. Warren et al., Marks of Achievement, 1987, fig. 223, p. 175). A third Batopilas flask was sold Sotheby's January 23, 1992, lot 56.