Collecting Golf Art: Prints & Illustrations, Etc.
Eras of Golf Ball Collecting
The Blackheath Golfer -
Is Your Print the High Priced Original?
The original engraving was in black and white although some are thought to have been hand colored. The original image is 17-by-23 inches, while most reproductions are smaller. There are other versions of the Blackheath Golfer, including an 1893 black and white platinotype, a photographic print which captures details excellently, hard to distinguish from an engraving. In the early 20th century, a black and white photogravure print was produced. These were copied from the original Valentine Green engraving.
For the complete story of the Painting and subsequent prints…. READ MORE
Eras of Golf Ball Collecting
Early rubber Core – 1900-1920 Era
Around the turn of the 20th century, the golf ball took another leap forward with the invention of the wound, rubber core ball. Supplanting the gutty over a period of just a few years, the rubber core, or “bounding billy” as the early ball was known, took off, literally, with golfers who discovered its penchant for to add distance to their games. The early balls varied in size and weight. Core materials varied widely as inventors tried almost everything from a hollow core, to compressed air, honey, steel, a radioactive substance, and, in one bizarre instance, the pizzle (penis) of a bull! Yes, you read that right. Such were the many patterns, weights, cores, that collecting balls from this period involves much research to understand the many patents and varieties. It is a particularly rich period for collectors and balls can be found ranging from reasonable prices to very high for prized and rare patent balls.
Eras of Golf Ball Collecting
1940s-Current Era
Collectors of balls for this period have many choices should they wish to focus on a particular niche, as these include balls with logos of from anything to universities to sports clubs and everything in between; corporate brands (logos); images of any number of things from animals to birds; joke balls, balls with the names of professional golfers, sometimes in script; autographed balls, itself a category as collectors often like to build a display of balls that the golfer him or herself has signed.