The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         C.G. Sloan & Company.                                

Title:               Records

Dates:             1895-1971, bulk 1895-1913

Call No.:         Col. 92           

Acc. No.:        91x64.1-62

Quantity:        62 volumes

Location:        16 J 5-7, K 2-9

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

C.G. Sloan and Company of Washington, D.C. operated a general auction house, did appraisals, and managed the Army and Navy Storage Rooms. The firm auctioned private estates, real and personal property, surplus and outdated government equipment, libraries, and contents of public buildings such as stores and hotels, and ran dead men's chests sales.  The logo of the company was a variant of the swastika. Sloan's attracted and served many clients from Washington, D.C. society, including United States senators, authors, foreign diplomats, and businessmen. During many of the years that these records cover, family member Charles G. Sloan was in charge of the business.

 

A predecessor to C.G. Sloan and Company was Latimer and Sloan, Latimer being Marcus B. Latimer.  After Charles G. Sloan died in 1910, the business passed to his son Mark Sloan, who headed it until his death in 1953.  Having no children, Mark Sloan left the business to two employees, James M. O’Brien and William Fairfax Edenlen.  The firm later passed into other hands before becoming Sloans & Kenyon around 2003.  According to the Sloans and Kenyon web site, the roots of the business go back to 1853.

 

For most of its 20th century existence, the company held twice weekly sales, with a mixture of goods being offered.  Finer goods were set aside and were offered at special cataloged sales.

 

Charles Gillespie Sloan was born in 1857, the son of Martha Isabella Mcknew and Alfred A. Sloan (in the 1860 census, his occupation was listed as plumber).  He married Frederica Dormer Latimer (born 1866), and their only child, Marcus Mcknew Sloan, was born in 1888.  Charles died in February 1910.  (One obituary mistakenly reported his age as 52.)

 

Frederica Latimer Sloan’s father, Marcus Barron Latimer (1839-1903), was an auctioneer.  In the 1860 census, he was listed as a clerk, but he was listed as an auctioneer in the 1870 census.  He began his auction career by working with J. Thomas Fisher of the auctioneering firm J.C. Maguire & Co.  He worked in partnership with a couple of other men before going into business with his son-in-law Charles G. Sloan.  Latimer was especially noted for his knowledge of Oriental rugs, but was also considered a fine connoisseur of art.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

These records include a scrapbook of clippings and advertisements dating from 1907 to 1912 that offer good examples of how the company promoted itself.   Two volumes record the activities of the Army and Navy Storage Rooms, including the names of clients and what they committed to storage.  The bulk of this collection consists of 47 volumes detailing auction sales. The names of the consignors, the items sold, the names of the successful bidders, and the amounts paid are invariably penned in.  The remainder of the volumes deal with office expenses and daily operations.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The volumes are divided by type and are arranged chronologically within each type.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Purchased from Carmen Valentino.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

It is possible that some auction catalogs of C.G. Sloan and Company are on Mic. 3156.  The index to this set of microfilm is found in American Art Auction Catalogues, 1785-1942: A Union List (New York Public Library, 1944).  However, there is no index by auction house name to this list.  (The catalogs are listed chronologically, and the index is to the names of the person whose goods are being auctioned.) 

 

The Archives of American Art holds auction catalogs from this company, 1893-1963.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Sloan, Charles G., 1857-1910.

 

Topics:

            Advertising - United States.

Auctioneers - Washington (D.C.)

Auctions - Prices.

Auctions - Washington (D.C.)

            Business records - Washington (D.C.)

House furnishings - Washington (D.C.)

Public buildings - Furniture, equipment, etc. - Washington (D.C.)   

            Real property - Washington (D.C.)

            Warehouses - Management.

           

Account books.

            Advertisements.

Cashbooks.

Ledgers.

            Scrapbooks.

            Auctioneers.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 16 J 5-7, K 2-9

 

 

Sales books, acc. 91x64.1.46

 

The general format for the sales books is as follows: a copy of the advertisement of the sale; then the lists of the sales, including a very brief description of the item sold (book case, table cover), the price realized, and the surname of the purchaser.    

 

.1         Record book 25, 1895-1899

 

.2         Record book 26, 1896

 

.3         Record book 27, 1896-1897

 

.4         Record book 28, 1896-1899

 

.5         Record book 29, 1896-1899

 

.6         Record book 30, 1896-1900

 

.7         Record book 31, 1897

 

.8         Record book 32, 1897-1898

 

.9         Record book 33, 1898

 

.10       Record book 35, 1898-1900

 

.11       Record book 36, 1898-1899

 

.12       Record book 37, 1899

 

.13       Record book 40, 1900

 

.14       Record book 41, 1900-1901

 

.15       Record book 42, 1900-1902

 

.16       Record book 44, 1900-1902

 

.17       Record book 45, 1901

 

.18       Record book 46, 1901-1902

 

.19       Record book 47, 1901-1903

 

.20       Record book 48, 1901-1904

 

.21       Record book 49, 1901-1902

 

.22       Record book 50, 1902

 

.23       Record book 51, 1902-1904

 

.24       Record book 52, 1902-1908

 

.25       Record book 53, 1902-1904

 

.26       Record book 78, 1907-1910

 

.27       Record book 79, 1907-1909

 

.28       Record book 80, 1908-1911

 

.29       Record book 82, 1909-1911

 

.30       Record book 83, 1910-1912

 

.31       Record book 84, 1909

 

.32       Record book 85, 1909

 

.33       Record book 86, 1909-1913

 

.34       Record book 87, 1909-1910

 

.35       Record book 88, 1910

 

.36       Record book 89, 1910-1911

 

.37       Record book 90, 1911-1913

 

.38       Record book 91, 1911-1915

 

.39       Record book 92, 1912-1917

 

.40       Record book 93, 1912-1915

 

.41       Record book 94, 1913-1918

 

.42       Record book 95, 1911

 

.43       Record book 96, 1911-1912

 

.44       Record book 97, 1917

 

.45       Record book 98, 1912-1913

 

.46       Record book 99, 1913-1915

 

.47       Record book 100, 1913

 

 

Miscellaneous volumes, acc. 91x64.48-.49:

 

.48       Check register, 1936-1941.

 

.49       Scrapbook of auction notices, 1907-1912

                        (spine label reads Invoices, but the volume was not used for that purpose)

 

 

Army & Navy Storage Rooms record books, acc. 91x64.50-.51:

 

The records in these volumes include the name of the person renting storage space, a list of what was placed in storage, and the room in which the goods were placed.   In addition, there are added notes, chiefly about the delivery of goods.  Both volumes have name indexes in front.

 

.50       storage records, 1899-1900

.51       storage records, 1903-1921

 

 

Cash ledgers, acc. 91x64.52-.59:

 

These list receipts and disbursements of money.

 

.52       1893: May -Sept. 1894

.53       1898: Aug.-Nov. 1899

.54       1901: Feb. -April 1902

.55       1908: Jan.-Dec.

.56       1911: Jan.-Dec.

.57       1912: Jan.-Dec.

.58       1970: Jan.- Jan. 1971

.59       1971: Feb. -March 1972

 

 

Ledgers, various accounts, acc. 91x64.60-.62:

 

.60       1891-1893

.61       1900-1901

.62       1909-1910