Very Early Baseball Player Tintype Image- auction

[Leon]

Anyone follow this one? I had a snipe in just because it was cool....but was blown out of the water. I didn't want it as much as the cdv I paid too much for not too long ago....This one doubled my snipe .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Early-B...p2047675.l2557


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[nsaddict]

That's a cool tintype. The winner isn't even a card collector.

[John V]

I don't recall one going that high before. The ball and bat didn't hurt. Does he have garters on his sleeves?

[honus94566]

Very cool. Any experts on civil war dress? Those trousers he's wearing really look like they could be a uniform bottom. Crazy to think this guy could have fought at Gettysburg.

[barrysloate]

That's an extraordinary image, beautifully posed with bat and ball, crystal clear, great uniform, and looks like it was lightly handcolored. The dating seems right, likely late 1860's. That's a home run as tintypes go, worth the 1K+ bid.

[christopher.herman]

Barry, you are correct citing the coloring. That's where a lot of the value lies... independent of the subject matter, of course.

[dbrown]

Related only that it's a 19th century photo, this was a stunning cabinet that fetched a nice price too. Really love this photo.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1892-Cabinet...-/111152309635

[Runscott]

Pretty amazing to see a tintype that looks like a cdv. Glad Barry could give us an approximate date and value for it.

[GaryPassamonte]

The CdV I've posted shares many similar characteristics with this tintype. The subject is one Lon Kinch. He died in early 1866. It's possible the tintype is mid 1860s.

[Jeffrompa]

1860's for sure . I didn't see that one on auction .

[barrysloate]

Has anyone seen any 1860's baseball image before that had a ballplayer wearing knee high leather boots? I haven't, and I wonder if he actually played wearing those things. If so, he wasn't a base stealer.

[drcy]

Technically speaking, the only error I noticed in the auction is listing when the seller said the paper envelope dated the photo to the 1860s. Paper envelopes existed beyond then.

However, it is an 1860s photos and those may indeed be Civil War pants he's wearing.

And I did notice the boots

[GasHouseGang]

Also, it appears his belt has upside down lettering on it. It looks like P-H-I on the part of the belt that shows on our left of the photo, the subjects right. Maybe Philadelphia?

[benjulmag]

It is an exquisite image IMO well worth the price paid.

[ramram]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

Also, it appears his belt has upside down lettering on it. It looks like P-H-I on the part of the belt that shows on our left of the photo, the subjects right. Maybe Philadelphia?

Any lettering will show up as a "mirror" of the original as with all dag's, ambrotypes and tintypes so I don't believe it is an upside down "PHI". At this early date, the team names would not be expected to reflect the city they are from but instead would reflect their social club name.

Rob M.

[Runscott]

I don't get the fuss over a soldier holding an orange and an axe handle

[Jeffrompa]

I think his Nikes were in the washing machine that day .

[sb1]

They may actually be his Cavalry boots, which might make the Civil war pants more plausible.

[Texxxx]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Has anyone seen any 1860's baseball image before that had a ballplayer wearing knee high leather boots? I haven't, and I wonder if he actually played wearing those things. If so, he wasn't a base stealer.

They may have to share the field with the occasional rattlesnake that went through.