Leiderman: The Mutual Club’s base ball coat of arms
From SABR member Jimmy Leiderman at the New York Clipper on October 30, 2012:
I couldn’t pass on the opportunity of writing about this piece of information I ‘found’ yesterday while scouring old newspaper scans.
The following was printed on the January 23, 1867 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
THE BASE BALL COAT OF ARMS. –
We have received a photograph copy of a novel work of art, representing the coat of arms of the base ball fraternity of the United States. The design is of Mr. Andrew J. Garvey, of the Mutual Club, the original is an alto relievo cast, five feet six inches in height, in plaster ornamented with gold, and cost one thousand dollars. Copies in plaster and photographs, the latter very finely done are for sale by Mr. Garvey. The original cast will be on exhibition at Irving Hall, at the ball of the Mutual Club on Monday evening.
I have to admit that I don’t remember reading about this before, (information overload?) but at least the name of the artist sounded pretty familiar.
<snip>
After reading the clippings, somehow, I found myself thinking about the art used on a 1865 NABBP Club Certificate of Admission while trying to picture Garvey’s ‘Coat of Arms’ would have looked like.
The certificate, which was sold in Barry Halper’s Collection auction, has similar characteristics to those mentioned in the both the Clipper and NY Times articles.
The name of the person that created the art for the certificate or the lithographic company that printed it weren’t disclosed in the auction listing.
Lets stop here and talk about Andrew J. Garvey, whose name sounded familiar.
Read the full article here: http://thenewyorkclipper.com/the-base-ball-coat-of-arms/
Originally published: October 30, 2012. Last Updated: October 30, 2012.