Sports-Themed Rarities From Photographic Historian And Author Excel Original Action Press Photograph Of Ty Cobb Sells For $7,200
April 19, 2024
Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce the results of a 660-lot sale held on March 7. Prices noted include the companys 20 percent buyers premium. The majority of the baseball-themed antiques came from the collection of photographic historian and author Mark Rucker. Ruckers collection consisted of the home-run heroes in this exciting sale. Here are some grand slam results from that category. An original photo team portrait of the Cuban Almendares baseball club was the top lot and made $8,400. This framed under glass albumen print was taken in Key West, Fla., by A. J. Estevez, ca. 1908-09. It included 21 players and coaches and measured 13-by-16 inches (framed). The exceedingly rare image featured several legendary players of the Cuban league and was on the cover and gatefold image of Mark Ruckers A Thousand Words (2022). An original action press photograph of Ty Cobb (1886-1961) at bat was a hit at $7,200. This 7-by-9-inch sepia-toned original image pictured Cobb in his Detroit Tigers uniform with bat in hand during a game. It was signed Ty Cobb in pencil on verso. A Toledo Baseball Club International League High Grade Marguerite Havana Cigars schedule poster sold for $6,600. Published in Toledo by Locke & Trowbridge in 1889, the lithograph poster included a schedule for the club, surrounded by players in a diamond shape, with the team president and manager in the upper corners and was believed to be the only copy extant. A fold-out postcard of the 1909 Champion Pittsburgh Pirates realized $5,280. It was produced in Pittsburgh, Pa., by the W. M. Dick Company in 1909. This rare, unused lithographed mailer included fold-out portraits of 17 players, as well as a double-panel photo of Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. A promotional postcard for the 1911 Western League Champions Denver Grizzlies scored $4,800. It was printed in Denver, Co., and marked, Compliments Fry & McGill Motor Supply Co., 1911. This lithographed example featured an illustration of a bear in a uniform, up at bat. According to Potters experts, this unused example was only one of three known extant. Potter & Potter, founded in 2007, is a Chicago area auction house specializing in paper Americana, vintage advertising, rare books, playing cards, gambling memorabilia, posters, fine prints, vintage toys, and magicana - antiques and collectibles related to magic and magicians. For more information, visit www.potterauctions.com.
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