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2 bottles per lot
Details
Believed "Black Seal" Madeira 1795 – Two Bottles Which Have Survived The French Revolution, A Pirate Capture and a Governmental Dispute
In 1793 shipping merchant Hezekiah Beers Pierpont, of New York City, founded a company-Leffingwell and Pierpont. He traveled to England in 1795 and bought a ship, Confederacy, to set sail to China and India to trade. After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, he stopped in Madeira and purchased a pipe of 110 gallons of Madeira and carried on his journey with the Madeira aboard, crossing the equator. Two years later he was ready to return with $330,000 of cargo aboard. Before making its safe return to the United States, Confederacy was attacked by a fleet of privateers in the service of Napoleon, who had ordered his men to attack all ships bound for England. The stolen cargo were later sold at an auction in Nantes, which Pierpont attended and bought back some of own his stolen cargo, much to his chagrin. His purchases included the Madeira.
On his return to the United States, Pierpont wrote countless letters and petitions to President Jefferson, requesting compensation. Jefferson, while negotiating the Louisiana Purchase, agreed to the mutual cancellation of all claims between the United States and France, in effect depriving Pierpont of his chance of regain his lost funds. The wine was transferred to glass bottles and stored in the family’s Brooklyn basement in 1839 after Pierpont’s death in 1838. He died having never tasted the Madeira.
The bottles were then transferred to various descendants of Pierpont. Almost all were consumed to much merry enjoyment. The two bottles in our auction are two of the last remaining. They have been in the private collection of the owner, a direct descendent of Hezekiah Beers Pierpont until release to Christie’s.
"Black Seal" Madeira Believed 1795
Levels: upper shoulder; in two different shaped hand-blown bottles, remains of embossed wax capsule, one bottle with handwritten
2 bottles per lot
In 1793 shipping merchant Hezekiah Beers Pierpont, of New York City, founded a company-Leffingwell and Pierpont. He traveled to England in 1795 and bought a ship, Confederacy, to set sail to China and India to trade. After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, he stopped in Madeira and purchased a pipe of 110 gallons of Madeira and carried on his journey with the Madeira aboard, crossing the equator. Two years later he was ready to return with $330,000 of cargo aboard. Before making its safe return to the United States, Confederacy was attacked by a fleet of privateers in the service of Napoleon, who had ordered his men to attack all ships bound for England. The stolen cargo were later sold at an auction in Nantes, which Pierpont attended and bought back some of own his stolen cargo, much to his chagrin. His purchases included the Madeira.
On his return to the United States, Pierpont wrote countless letters and petitions to President Jefferson, requesting compensation. Jefferson, while negotiating the Louisiana Purchase, agreed to the mutual cancellation of all claims between the United States and France, in effect depriving Pierpont of his chance of regain his lost funds. The wine was transferred to glass bottles and stored in the family’s Brooklyn basement in 1839 after Pierpont’s death in 1838. He died having never tasted the Madeira.
The bottles were then transferred to various descendants of Pierpont. Almost all were consumed to much merry enjoyment. The two bottles in our auction are two of the last remaining. They have been in the private collection of the owner, a direct descendent of Hezekiah Beers Pierpont until release to Christie’s.
"Black Seal" Madeira Believed 1795
Levels: upper shoulder; in two different shaped hand-blown bottles, remains of embossed wax capsule, one bottle with handwritten
2 bottles per lot
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