Original Civil War Regulation Eagle Drum

Original Civil War Regulation Eagle Drum – This excellent example of a regulation, Civil War eagle drum remains at its original full height at 16” and diameter also 16”. The paint on the rims and eagle is original with no modern in-painting; there is some relatively minor age-related paint loss, but the eagle remains vivid, as does the riband in the eagle’s beak, which clearly states: “REGt. // U.S. // INFANTRY”. Where the bent maple body is joined by the double, parallel row tack pattern, there is a sound hole, in between these two rows, surrounded by an oblong additional set of decorative tacks. Looking in the sound hole, there does not appear to be a maker or retailer’s label inside the drum body. The rims retain most of their original, bright red paint; we had this drum professionally re-roped (with the correct type of rope), new, correct style, tension ears put on the roping and correct style heads placed on the drum. The wood is excellent, with no chips, cracks, or abrasions and retains nice color. The painting follows the regulations in portraying the arms of the United States: an eagle with spread wings clutching arrows and an olive branch in its talons, with overhead a yellow and orange-red sunburst “glory” of the sun’s rays coming up from behind an arched bank of clouds, which frame white six-pointed stars above the eagle’s shoulders and wings. The eagle has a yellow bordered, red, white and blue United States shield on its chest  The eagle is painted in white/cream, brown, and yellow, with the olive branch in greens and red, and the arrows in white/cream. The ground is blue, correct for an infantry drum, with some aging of the varnish; overall, the paint is excellent. What losses there are, are narrow striations and along the wood grain, again typical for Civil War painted drums. This is a fine example of the much sought after, iconic Civil War eagle drum that has not been cut down.