19th Century Dan Brouthers John Clarkson Ball and Pins Game

[vintagesportflips]

Hey guys,
I wanted to share images of a piece that came up for auction at an auction house near me earlier today, and see if anyone had ever seen one before. I saw this same game in an estate auction about 8 months ago around the corner from me, and I left what I thought was a pretty decent absentee bid (I had to work), but I got blown away. Then I noticed it show up at the catalog auction of a bigger local auction house and went up for sale earlier today. I didn't win it this time either, and the final hammer price for it was $9000.00 before the commission.

The item in question was a leather ball, and 6 pins each with a different painted rendering of a baseball player on it. The leather ball was closer to the size of a softball than a baseball (it could have actually been a softball), and the ball had a little give to it when pressed. It did not have any stitching present, and the seam had more of the look of an early softball with a stitchless seam. The ball had 2 silver medallions some how attached to it, 1 on each side. One had an image of Dan Brouthers with the engraving World Champion Batter, the other an image of John Clarkson with World Champion Pitcher. I know Hunts had a game they auction several years ago called The Champion Game that had Brouthers and Clarkson on the cover (image below), but that appeared to be a spinner type game, so I am not sure if there is any connection.

I was just curious if anyone had ever seen this ball and pin game before, and as to the possible date of it. The ball doesn't look like an 1880s or early 90s ball to me, but I could definetly be wrong.

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp36/VintagePigskin/BrouthersClarksonBowling1.jpg
http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp36/VintagePigskin/BrouthersClarksonBowling2.jpg
http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp36/VintagePigskin/BrouthersClarksonBowling3.jpg
http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp36/VintagePigskin/BrouthersClarksonBowling4.jpg
http://www.huntauctions.com/imgaug05/275.jpg

[Butch7999]

Fascinating find, k-j! Mark Cooper has (or at least had) a very similar set -- the only other one in existence that we're aware of -- which is shown on page 30 of his Baseball Games catalogue.

His set, which he labelled "19th Century Bowling Pins," "Manufacturer unknown," likewise includes six wooden pins, with player images identical to those on the set you show, and a ball roughly three inches in diameter. However, the pins in his set are shaped differently -- thicker and more cylindrical, less tapered, and with significantly different top finials -- and the ball in his set appears more billiard-ball-like, possibly ceramic and definitely with no medallions.

The Brouthers-Clarkson features, then, are the first we've heard of in connection with this bowling set, although their appearance on The Champion Game of Base Ball (A S Schutz, 1889) is well known. If the ball in the set you show is authentic to the era, it might well date the bowling set to 1889, same as the Schutz spinner game, since that season (in which Brouthers won the NL batting title and Clarkson led the league in most every major pitching stat) was the only season the duo were teammates, and it would make sense that they'd have been used together promotionally.

[CarltonHendricks]

Man those pins are out there...and so is the 9 g's. Great post! Those would be in the exotic category....and when you add baseball + exotic you get in the high rent district. You have to wonder who the two bidders were that got into it, and who got it. I speculate had you not posted this, we may not have ever seen them in the hobby and that some dealer, and I have one in mind, won them and will flip them for $15,000.00 - $20,000.00 to a collector we may or may not even know of. I've heard a legend of very high profile celebrity collector. Are they worth that kind of money? In relation to how rare they are and they are baseball and relate to world champions....$15,000.00 - $20,000.00 could just be a fraction of what they are worth. A bargain is a state of mind, but there are likely collectors who aren't after bargains. They're just so happy to find something like these pins they'll pay what ever, and be very glad to. Exotic baseball is just so tough to find. It always has been, but there's even less of it today to be had than 20-30 years ago because the little there is, is off the market locked up in collections. Look how sparse the auctions have gotten for great display pieces over the last few years, never mind exotic The amount of exotic baseball that exists can not increase. Sure there can be finds of something unearthed never before seen, sort of like these pins, but these kinds of "unearthed finds" don't happen as often as they did 20 years ago. But the amount of collectors can and does increase by the decade....and that can only result in increased prices. I think that's particularly true for exotic material. Very rarely do we see exotic pieces in the hobby, I think the really great stuff get's taken into custody before it hits the market. Although occasionally something gets loose. That 1871 Eagles Base Ball Club broadside in Hunt's last year...which ended up at the 09' National...now there is a good example of exotic baseball that miraculously got thru. Whenever I think of exotic baseball I think of a 48" wide c1890 baseball box office sign I saw in a book...a perfect example of what you never see come up in the hobby.

<img src="http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc120/CarltonHendricks/BoxOffice1890BBSign-1.jpg">

<img src="http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc120/CarltonHendricks/PICT4644-1.jpg">

[Jay Wolt]

Great write up on the pins & balls, never seen them before.

[khkco4bls]

i saw a set with boston players painted on the pins and a wooden ball at brimfield this past year for 2500.00 dollars.

[insidethewrapper]

That doesn't really look like Dan Brouthers to me. Any other 19th Century expert opinions ?

[Butch7999]

Dunno... am I Dan Brouthers' keeper? ;)

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e237/Butch799/characters/bbgame89BMU89bmbbE1.jpg http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e237/Butch799/characters/bbChampionGameOfBaseBallASSchutz89a.jpg http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e237/Butch799/characters/bbBrouthersDBaltimoreAlphaEngrav-1.jpg http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e237/Butch799/characters/bbBrouthersDLouisvilleMayo95N300e1.jpg

Left to right: image from k-j's bowling ball; illustration from The Champion Game of Base Ball (A S Schutz, 1889); photo from Alpha Engraving card, 1894 (image cropped and reversed); photo from N300 Mayo, 1895 (image cropped and reversed).

You be the ol' judge. For folk-art, looks close enough for us...

[batsballsbases]

Looks good to me!:)

[jbsports33]

great looking stuff,

Jimmy

[khkco4bls]

both etchings look like they were copied from the cover of the game.

[olsport]

Just a good educated guess here, but I would believe these to be two seperate items that don't even belong together. The ball would NOT be used with the pins to roll and knock them down. That wouldn't make sense. Those beautifully engraved medallions would get dented every time they struck the pins. No way! Also, the pins would be all chipped up and damaged on there surfaces from those medallions of metal hitting into them, yet neither has much, if any wear. That ball wouldn't even roll very straight with those on it. I would think the ball is something very special, even more so then the game pins, like a commemorative or trophy game ball, or who knows what. It is way too fancy also for a child's game item. What do others have to say?

[olsport]

didn't hear from anyone yet??

[Butch7999]

We'd say those are all excellent points.
Additionally, the pins seem almost too finely crafted to have been intended for use in a collision game and appear more like decorative objects...

[batsballsbases]

I also agree with you Paul. The Balls really dont look like they belong with the pins. And why does one have a nice finial on the top? Even if the others were cut off it still doesnt look like they would match. To me it looks like this was put together from 3 different sets.