Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction September 2024
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/24/2024
This historic image of the late-1880s to circa-1890 Bristol Base Ball Club has been identified by baseball historian Mark Rucker as the earliest known photo of a black baseball team. Well outfitted with the management members pictured especially well dressed, the cabinet photo by a skilled lensman features crisp clarity and has been dated to late-1880s to circa-1890 by the style of uniforms including pillbox caps, thick-handled bats (one has painted rings), folded-in ties and the period catchers mask. All of the players are listed on the base of the mount, and there is a slightly dark hue covering the names and photo - evidence of a former matting for many years with this area exposed. While the details of the team and it's history is sadly lost to time, the fact that no expense was spared to produce the photo as well as the expensive attiring of the team and management - rarely seen with African Americans during the era, all lead to monumental cultural importance. Housed in a heavy 19th century dovetailed frame with window-hinged reverse secured with gold-coloured metal brackets at full dimensions of 16 1/2" x 19 1/2", the museum-quality photo and it's mount exhibit no issues other than the aforementioned toning. When putting a price on such an historic and utterly rare baseball treasure, there are no comparisons to asses value, but as a point of reference, this very photo sold previously for approx $9,000.00.
While all of our frames are thoroughly and safely packaged for shipping, due to the size and/or weight, and dependent upon the shipping company, we should mention that damage may occur in transit. Please note that as such, we are not responsible for any damage to frames that occurs during shipping.
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