Four (4) yellow gold items previously owned by Georgia Senator and Governor, Thomas William Hardwick. 1st item: 14K yellow gold fountain pen having a Waterman nib. The pen is marked "14K" and "T.W.H. 6-25-21" Gross weight of the pen is 20.77 grams. 2nd item: 18K yellow gold "snake" cylindrical container. The cylinder is marked "18K" and displays a snake on the side crawling toward an emerald cabochon. The cylinder is 4 1/2" L and weighs 7.28 grams. 3rd-4th items: Pair of 14K yellow gold cufflinks. The cufflinks are marked "14K", "'93-'21", and "T. C. to T. W. H.". The cufflinks weigh 12.13 grams. Note: Thomas Hardwick (1872-1944) served as a Senator for the state of Georgia beginning in 1914, after the death U.S. senator Augustus O. Bacon who died in while in office, and he remained in this position for five years. He was then elected Georgia governor in 1921 and retained the office until 1923. He had previously led efforts to disenfranchise Black Georgians at the turn of the twentieth century, but as governor Hardwick he opposed the rise of the new Ku Klux Klan and advocated prison reform, issuing an executive order that ended the common practice of flogging inmates. In the 1922 gubernatorial campaign, Clifford Walker, a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan, defeated Hardwick. (Adapted from the New Georgia Encyclopedia). Additional provenance: This piece was inherited by Hardwick's daughter, Mary Hardwick Rawlings, who bequeathed it to her nephew, Joe Newsom Rawlings.

The Collection of Dr. Joe Newsom Rawlings, Davisboro, Georgia. The fountain pen has some denting near the bottom and the cap has a hole with a circular "ghost" mark, indicating a circular plaque or stone has been lost. The "snake" cylindrical container has some scattered light dents at the top and a larger dent at the bottom.