Help Me Date This Bat-

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Posted By: Brock G.

I'm not too familiar with bats of this vintage and am hoping someone can enlighten me.
My best guess is late 19th century but I really dont know. It appears it may have had rings painted on it at one point. The differnt colors in the barrel are very pronounced. There is not a trace of paint or any markings on the bat. 34" long and very heavy.
Any help with the age and/or value would be appreciated.

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Posted By: John Harrell

Without more scans, it's hard to say. Can you post pics of the knob and barrel ends? Some close ups of the barrel area near the rings would help.

John

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

This one is a bit tough, indeed. The "Bottle Bat" style is more indicative of the teens, but the rings would indicate earlier.

I believe there is a very similar one pictured in Steven Wong's Smithsonian Book (with red rings). Perhaps it also has a caption that dates the piece... i didn't notice. Just going from memory- my last trip to Borders. Was supposed to be Christmas shopping, but got pre-occupied for quite a while.

Either way, it is a very cool looking, very old bat... congrats!

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Posted By: Brock G.

John, hopefully these photos can help you get a better idea. If these are still not the areas you need to see let me know and I can take some more.

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Posted By: John Harrell

Brock,

Based on what I've seen, I'd say your bat is from the 1880's or early 90's and is, pretty obviously, hand made. The thickness of the knob suggests this time period, as well as the ring marks. Are there any lathe marks on the barrel end or the knob end?

John

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Posted By: Brock G.

I'm guessing this smalll hole on the knob is a lathe mark.

Thanks for the help John. Not just for telling me about the bat but for teaching me a new word. I had to look up "lathe" in the dictionary to figure out what you were referring to.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Yep, that's a lathe mark. John would know better than I, but I agree with his assessment of this bat. Late 1800s, homemade. Nice pickup Brock.