Vintage Baseball Original Art

[conscious_crow]

Thanks for starting this thread, Alan! Such unique pieces - I particularly like the silhouette-esque drawings such as the one depicting Ruth. Very nice!

I have one original drawing from my collection to share. It's a hand-drawn sketch of Nap Rucker from a Brooklyn local at the time (on the back of the drawing, the artist made note of his Brooklyn address and the year - 1913). Quite the lovely piece with much character and what I assume is an even more interesting backstory given the local origin.

[aelefson]

Thanks Josh and your Rucker item is excellent! It looks like it might have been presented to him at some point (or designed to be).

[bnorth]

Great stuff guys.

A fellow member sold a collection of a few of these great drawings of star players that the artist got signed by the subjects. I was lucky enough to get the winner of the lot to sell me this beautiful Eddie Mathews.

[perezfan]

Love the sketch that looks like Matty. And especially the Ruth!

Instead of the lovable cartoonish galoot most people view him as, this portrays how Ruth must've looked to the opposing Pitcher. Very svelte, menacing and intimidating.

Really great minimalist style!

[doug.goodman]

Wow, nice stuff.

[bgar3]

Your streak continues Alan. Very nice. The unnamed player reminds me of photos I have seen of Joe Jackson.

[aelefson]

Thank you guys! Ben, that is a great Mathews item! Any idea where it was used? It looks like some newspaper art I have seen in the past but the quality looks even better.

Mark, the Ruth has been growing on me since I bought the lot. Originally I was disappointed that it was not more life like but now I am more appreciative of the style. I bought these at my favorite flea market from the dealer who sold me the seamless style lemon peel ball I posted about a couple of months ago. He said the artist was a somewhat known architect in New York in the 30s and 40s but I have been unable to link the art to a specific name (the dealer thought his name was Sebastian Murphy but was not sure).

I am really amazed at how my collection has grown using mostly flea markets and antique shops. I never planned to add an original drawing of Ruth to my collection but now I have one.

I am also amazed by the pricing difference between memorabilia and cards. The entire group of drawings cost 50.00. Now that price was probably too cheap, but even if it was 500.00, they are still much cheaper than mass produced cards from the same era. I do like cards too, but the price difference is insane in my opinion between memorabilia and cards. I am glad I switched mainly to memorabilia years ago.

Bruce and Mark, I do wonder if the unnamed ones are Matty and Jackson but it is odd the artist didn't label them.

Alan

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Thank you guys! Ben, that is a great Mathews item! Any idea where it was used? It looks like some newspaper art I have seen in the past but the quality looks even better.
Alan

Not sure what it was for or even who done it. The original seller on here was cleaning out some old stuff he had not seen in years and couldn't remember how he got them. I know I am very happy to have the Mathews in my collection.