August Card & Memorabilia Auction Closing August 28-29
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/28/2021
Encapsulated and authenticated by CAG. A "Wright Flyer" wing fabric relic, flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903 is presented. Although a most unlikely pair of inventors, two former bicycle designers found themselves at the forefront of the aviation industry – early in the 20th Century – after many years of development. Orville and Wilbur Wright had abandoned the cycle world to begin creating a flying machine. The brothers accomplished one of the greatest innovations in mankind's history, when the "Wright Flyer," as it was known, became the first machine in history to record a controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air craft. In the wake of their triumphant 1903 breakthrough in aviation, the Wright Brothers' celebrity status brought about a new lifestyle of travel, business and acclaim. But what became of the "Flyer," itself? The famous craft was stored for a time by the Wrights. Eventually, following a number of legal and logistic challenges, it finally landed in the Smithsonian Institution, shortly after Orville's passing in 1948. Significantly, a fabric relic from its wing – perhaps similar to the artifact offered here – was left on the surface of the moon, in 1969, by the first crew to make a lunar landing. The historical importance and evocative character of this physically unassuming textile piece cannot be overstated. This, actual object acted as part of a key component in one of humankind's most thrilling and consequential activities. The relic's provenance includes the collection of Otto Kallir (1894-1978), an internationally recognized curator of the world's finest art and paper heirlooms.