Condition Report
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Auction Specialist
Lot 278
Sale 1314 - American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts
Mar 15, 2024
10:00AM ET
Live / Cincinnati
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Estimate
$500 -
700
Price Realized
$1,207
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description
A Porcelain Occupational Shaving Mug Belonging to Baseball Player Bill Steele
Early 20th Century
depicting crossed bats and a ball, over the name Steele.
marked T&V / Limoges on underside.
Height 3 1/2 inches.
Lot includes a real photo postcard of William "Big Bill" Steele (1885-1949) in uniform for the Altoona Rams, the minor league team with which he made his debut as a pitcher, circa 1909-1910. After winning 25 games for the Rams in their 1910 season and perfecting his right-handed spitball, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals the following year. Chronic hip arthritis ultimately derailed his career, and Steele was sold in 1913 to the Brooklyn Robins, the team with which he ended his Major League career at the end of the 1914 season.
Property from the Collection of James Carpenter, Montague, New Jersey