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Antique Richmond, Virginia tennis commemorative mug dating to approximately 1914.
A fascinating early American sporting and social-history piece decorated in blue on a cream glazed ceramic/stoneware body. The decoration includes crossed tennis rackets, a handshake motif, and a large scroll recording numerous players by initials along with dates ranging approximately from 1908 through 1914.
Especially important, the mug retains old handwritten paper records identifying many of the initials with the players' full names.
Names represented on the surviving papers include members of the Wallerstein, Ezekiel, Rosenbaum, Gans, Gunst, Strause/Straus, May, Bloomberg, Kaufman, Oberdorfer, Stern, Marcuse and other families.
Historical research connects a number of these same families with Richmond, Virginia's early-20th-century social community, providing strong evidence for the Richmond attribution.
The surviving handwritten papers will be included with the mug and are an important part of its provenance.
Approximate height: 5 1/2 inches.
Maker is currently unknown. The underside bears the number "91."
CONDITION:
Antique pre-owned condition with extensive age-related glaze crazing, surface wear, spotting/discoloration and wear/roughness around the rim, including a small rim nick/chip. Please examine all photographs closely for condition.
The original handwritten identification papers have age toning, folds, edge wear/losses and other handling wear.
No specific tennis club has been conclusively identified, so this is being described conservatively as a Richmond-area tennis/social-group commemorative mug.
An unusual piece of early Virginia sporting history with unusually strong surviving named provenance.
Please review all photographs, as they are an important part of the description.
