Baseball
(Paris, France), ca. 1896
1894 Temple Cup Baseball Game! Rare Color Photogravure. Henry Sandham
Photogravure

A magnificent color photogravure depicting the historic 1894 Temple Cup championship baseball game, produced by Boussod, Valadon & Cie. (Paris, France), ca. 1896. After an original oil painting, "A Baseball Match," by Canadian painter and illustrator Henry Sandham (1842-1910). The photogravure is signed in stone as "Hy. Sandham / Boston 1894" in the lower right corner. Slightly trimmed along the edges, losing only the word "Goupilgravure" which appears in the lower right corner of untrimmed versions. Minor to moderate foxing most visible in the upper third of the work. Isolated minor toning, and a handful of small water spots (mostly in the lower right corner) which could possibly be removed during restoration. Else near fine and in vibrant color! The actual size is 39.375" x 19.575."

We record a half dozen uncolored versions of this print selling between $13,000 - $29,000, and this is a rarer and more desirable color version. Even the example in the collections of the Library of Congress is in black and white.

All of the wonderful details of the 1894 Temple Cup matchup captured in Sandham's original painting are recreated in this impressive panoramic photogravure. The 1894 playoff game pitched the first-place team, the Baltimore Orioles (dark uniforms with striped stockings), against the second-place team, the New York Giants (white uniforms with blue facing). The game was played at the New York Polo Grounds, at the foot of an elegant two-tiered stadium. The Giants defeated the Orioles in a surprising upset witnessed by dozens of spectators whom Sandham has carefully depicted, down to the detail of their boaters and picture hats.

The Temple Cup was a short-lived series (1894-1897) awarded to the winner of an annual best-of-seven postseason championship drawn amongst National League baseball teams including the Orioles and the Giants. Other defunct participating teams included the Cleveland Spiders and the Boston Beaneaters!

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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39.375" x 19.575"