Description:

Oakley, Annie (1860-1926) Annie, Get Your Gun! A Clay Pigeon owned by Annie Oakley with impeccable provenance

Ligowsky patent clay pigeon with its paper or pasteboard throwing tab. Clay pigeon 4.25" diameter and 1.5" deep. Throwing tab extends about 1". With a color photocopy of the letter of authenticity, picturing the clay pigeon here offered and five target balls, signed and dated "Bess Moses Edwards Oct. 30, 2013," 1p, 8.5" x 11". Fine condition.

Annie Oakley (1860-1926) was born Phoebe Ann (Annie) Moses. She adopted the stage name Oakley when she and Frank Butler began performing together. The grandniece of Annie Oakley, Bess Moses Edwards, was the granddaughter of Annie's only brother, John Moses. Born in 1922, she remembers sitting in her Grandaunt Annie's lap as a child. She has signed a letter of authenticity certifying that the five target balls and one clay pigeon were "passed down through our family." All six targets are pictured on her letter.

from Bess Moses Edwards letter of authenticity

In part, "Beginning in the mid-1870s, more and more shooters began to use glass balls as targets rather than live birds. Buffalo Bill's Wild West used glass balls at first before switching to black balls made from a resinous compound. It seems that the shattered glass in the arena was becoming a hazard to livestock (and to people). The change to clay pigeons came about slowly after the invention of a satisfactory composition target, shaped like a shallow bowl, by Ohio's George Ligowsky. The versatility of the clay pigeon has led to its becoming the standard shotgun target.

"(6) Ligowsky patent clay pigeon with its paper or pasteboard throwing tab.

"I hereby certify that the item pictured and described above is authentic and was passed down through our family. Bess Moses Edwards Grandniece of Annie Oakley"

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