Dennis Lyall (American, B. 1946) "20th C Carving of Uncle Sam Toy" Signed lower right. Original Oil painting on Canvas. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 37c Uncle Sam stamp issued April 3, 2003. This painting features a particularly whimsical example of 20th-century folk art. Pedaling a high-wheel bicycle a tall and long-leg Uncle Sam patriotically waves a crisply unfurled "Liberty" flag. The bicycle itself is made from cast iron while the wheels are trimmed in oak. Uncle Sam's hand-painted clothing -- appropriately colored in red, white and blue -- is manufactured from tin. Originally consisting of 13 stars and 13 stripes, Old Glory was first modified in 1795, when two more stars and two more stripes were added to reflect the admission to the Union of Vermont and Kentucky. In 1818, after the admission of five more states, the number of stripes was permanently reduced back to 13 to represent the original colonies, while the number of stars was increased to 20 to reflect the current number of states in the Union. Since then one star for each new state has been added to flag on the 4th of July following that state's date of admission. In 1912, an executive order standardized the proportions and relative sizes of the elements of the flag its official overall width-to-length ratio is 10 to 19). In 1934, its exact shades of color were also standardized. Image Size: 14 x 12 in. Overall Size: 18 x 15.5 in. Unframed. (B17107)