Mary Gregory Baseball Lemonade Set - Sports Antique of the Week May 10th- 16th 2009

SPORTS ANTIQUE

OF THE WEEK

May 10th- 16th 2009

Standout items

by SportsAntiques.com

THIS WEEKS FEATURE

C1890

Mary Gregory/Bohemian Style

BASEBALL MOTIF LEMONADE SET

Pitcher - 10" tall x 7" wide incl. handle

Glasses - 3 1/2" tall x 2 3/4" wide

click photos

Catcher

Batter close in

Fielder

Catcher close in

Handle

Fielder close in

Top

Glasses

Kevin Ogara of East Northpoint Long Island N.Y. was kind enough to send in photos of this lemonade set. Over the years I've seen this type glass work in the antiques world. I've seen it with tennis players but that was the only sports example until this. This type glass is referred to as Bohemian or Mary Gregory style. According to what I read there is purported to be a mythical account that one Mary Gregory originated the style. And that she worked for the Boston and Sandwich glass company from 1880 to 1884. However, the consensus today seems to be this type glass is from Europe, particularly Austria and Bohemia, which today is the newly formed state of Czechoslovakia. It's not all that unusual for American sports to be used as an art theme on European works. I speculate the artist who rendered the baseball players on this set may been given a magazine illustration, or photo to work from.

Whoever produced this set didn't cut corners on detail. The pitcher doesn't just depict one player but three different on three sides; a catcher, fielder, and batter. Apparently there were originally six glasses, all with batters. Kevin said three are right handed, and two left handed. Although it doesn't come thru in the photos, Kevin said the rim of the top of the pitcher and the glasses is gold rimmed. Kevin also remarked the carafe is remarkably light weight. Below our exchange of emails:

carlton, im sending photos of a hand painted glass lemonaide set from 1880 to1890s. this was known as mary gregory glass or bohemian glass from europe, not sure if its american. can you see if anyone has ever seen anything like it. its missing one glass since there were 3 left and 3 right handed batters. it is in remarkable cond. there isnt a chip on any of the pieces ,and its amazing that it was never broken. thanks kevin.

Kevin, Please give me all the details.....the who, what, where, how much, etc...how did you come into them, how long you had them??

Thanks -Carlton

carlton ,i had a chance years ago, probably 10 years to buy this set for 700 dollars which i thought was a steal, and i couldnt afford it at the time from a dealer i know. well i stopped at his house where they had this set in there antique collection and i asked figuring it was long gone and woudnt you know it they still had it, and he said it was 700 dollars 10 years later and i bought it. it doesnt have a makers mark on it . all i know its either american or bohemian. it is known as mary gregory glass because of the ferns painted around the figures. if you google mary gregory glass you'll see what i mean. the people i got it from new it was worth alot more but knew i was a sports collector. to me it is a stunning hand painted glass set and flawless. thanks

Can you please send me the full dimensions of all the pieces..height and width? Also are there any markings? if so can I get photos? thanks -Carlton

carlton there are no markings. the glasses are 31/2" H x2 3/4"wide. the lemonaide pitcher is 10 1/2"H X 5" wide, 7" including the handle. there is still the gold gilding on the rim at the top of the pieces and at the base of the pitcher. kevin