This revolver holster shows a classic Confederate field repair and was part of a Shields Museum display of battlefield pick-ups from the scene of the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg. The holster is in very good, displayable condition. The body is the style sewn closed at the end, not using a toe plug, and configured to hold the pistol butt to the rear on the wearer’s right. The leather of the body still shows decent finish, with two areas of wear where the top of the cylinder and bottom of the triggerguard of the pistol would have pushed it out and created high points that would be subject to rubbing. The leather still holds a good impression of the revolver that was in it.

At some point the holster’s sewn belt loop gave way and the owner reattached it with lead rivets, deciding at the same time that he wanted a larger flap to protect the pistol as well. He improvised this from piece of leather removed from something else, cut the old flap off along the upper edge of the holster body and attached new flap using the same type of lead rivets. The flap is rather large and is made of two pieces nicely sewn together. It is contoured to the holster and was obviously in place for sometime while the holster was in use. The flap shows dirt and wear to the edges. It seems to have been attached rough-side-out. It is pierced for a stud or button that is no longer in place. The original flap was likely rather narrow and of the style with an extended fastening tab merely held down by a short cross strap that, like the sewn belt loop, was not strong enough for extended field use.

This came out of the Shields Museum in 1974 when one of our earliest and most regular customers, who also regularly visited the Shield Museum, was offered a one-time opportunity by Ellen Shields, then running the museum for the family, to help them gain some space by purchasing one display case that happened to be devoted to pieces from the first day’s fighting. The offer was an all-or-nothing deal and he accepted. We are happy to offer this holster and a few other battlefield pick-ups from the same Shields Museum display case never on the market before, except for a few minutes in 1974.

This is a great Confederate holster with a tight provenance to Gettysburg and the fighting of July 1 on the west side of town.  [sr] [ph:L]

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