The USS Tallapoosa was a Civil War Double-Sided Gunboat constructed at the New York Navy Yards by C.W. Booz of Baltimore, Maryland. She was launched in 1863 and commissioned in 1864. Years after the war ended, in 1884, the USS Tallapoosa collided with a schooner in Vineyard Sound off the coast of Massachusetts. She was subsequently raised from the depths, repaired and sent back on the water. In 1892, she was sold at public auction in Uruguay. 

The late E. Norman Flayderman (1928-2013) remains legendary as an antique arms dealer, a prolific author, and a perspicacious collector across a wide range of categories. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both antique dealers, he founded N. Flayderman & Co. in 1952. The third-generation dealer ran a brick-and-mortar shop for ten years before changing his business model to focus solely on scholarly catalogue sales, producing 119 consecutive issues between 1954 and 1998.

 

Flayderman delighted in finding decorative items rich with history and sharing their stories with fellow collectors who shared his passion. Many items offered here from his storied collection reflect the breadth of his knowledge of nautical history, including carved gangway boards identified to nineteenth century ships, paintings of sailing vessels, nautical instruments, and thematically decorated American and English pottery.