Painted Wooden "T. Doty" Tavern Trade Sign

Description:

Painted Wooden "T. Doty" Tavern Trade Sign, Canton, Massachusetts, 18th century, double-sided sign flanked by baluster-turned posts, one side painted with the figure of a shackled rampant lion, over the inscription "T. DOTY," the other side is painted with a faint standing horse figure over an earlier bust of Washington, but shows weathering, on original iron hardware, (surface imperfections),overall ht. 71 1/2, ht. to top of sign only, 51 in., wd. 44 in.

Literature: According to A Leaf From Canton History by Daniel T.V. Huntoon, The Doty Tavern stood in the town of Stoughton, now Canton, Massachusetts. A notable man of Suffolk County, Major John Shepard built the house sometime in the early 18th century and kept it as a tavern in 1726. The proprietor at the time of the American Revolution was Tom Doty also known as Col. Thomas Doty. The rumblings of revolution were in the air and it was at his tavern that "bold patriots resolved that throughout the thirteen provinces "Congresses" (so called in order to obviate the provisions of the Regulation Act, which forbade town meetings except by permission of the Governor)" would meet on August 16, 1774. At the end of the day resolutions were passed and the participants were determined to resist the encroachments of Great Britain. At a subsequent meeting "the celebrated 'Suffolk Resolves' which drafted by General Warren and carried to Philadelphia by Paul Revere, were approved by the Continental Congress at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia on the 17th of September, 1774, and which in the words of Galloway 'contained a complete declaration of war against Great Britain,'"
The Marquis de Lafayette, on his first visit to America, rested at Doty's while journeying from Taunton to Boston. The tavern was also a refuge during the siege of Boston.
The tavern burned down on December 20, 1888.
Estimate $15,000-25,000

retouch to lion figure on body, legs, tail, areas surrounding lettering.

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