Two pieces, all of the same estate and all belonging to a Spanish American veteran of the 47th Infantry, stationed in the Phillipines from 1898 to 1901. Marsh Fleck Com 47 is scratched into the side of this trifold mirror – each piece of mirror is rimmed in tin and hand hammered nails with a hinge between each. On the backs of the mirrors, in the center is a playing card back (Adad & Picard Escolta) and on each side is one of the beautiful Victorian women in costume playing cards mounted as decorative backing. On the title card he scratched his name again and 1900, and a few other words that I can’t quite read as well. Mirrors are slightly out of square, and losing silver – and the playing card that has been on the top of the piece (when folded) for 100 years is quite dirty with another word “Somerset” or something like it written in pencil (I’d guess the station he was at during the war). Accompanying the piece is a letter that I assume our friend penned laid up with a wound in the war – it reads in part “I hear they welcome voice that calls me lord to thee, for cleansing in thy precious blood that flowed on calvary….” Beautiful penmanship, sixteen stanzas – double sided poem. Its nice to keep this with the mirror as they have always been.
