American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Original pennant depicting Buffalo Bill in three quarter view. Item 29 1/2 x 11 in., mounted and framed, 39 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. Provenance: Previously sold Heritage Auction Galleries 25 August 2018, sale 6183 lot 43364; Edward C. Gillette Collection.

Following the Buffalo Bill's Wild West show going bankrupt in 1913, William Cody was hired by Sells Floto Circus co-founder Henry Heye Tammen to perform in his show, thus creating the "Sells Floto and Buffalo Bill Circus which lasted through the 1914 and 1915 seasons. This pennant is not known to have ever been authorized by Cody and is considered to be among the most rare still in existence.