This is one of the rarest Vienna sports bronzes. I'd never seen another, so when I came upon it at the Hillsborough Antiques Show last Sunday, it stopped me in my tracks. And of course, nothing great is cheap these days, so I really had to bite the bullet. The gal selling it knew what she had, and her asking price was enough to choke a couple of reindeer. I saw a rare tennis Vienna bronze at this same show in 2003 from a different dealer that was asking $1,695.00 . That was cheap compared to this. It was Sunday, the last day of a four day show. The dealer, Muriel Peterson of Sammamish, Washington said she'd only had it out of the case three times to show people over the whole four days of the show.  She said she'd gotten it at the Atlantique City Show from Richard Wright, the famous doll dealer and expert that is on the Antiques Road Show. She said Richard had gotten it out of an estate somewhere, and that he regularly saves things for her, so it hadn't been seen. Antiques dealers are very conscious about having fresh things that haven't been seen. Doesn't mean jack to me though. If it's something I want, that's all that matters! For anyone new to this site, probably my biggest hot button is antique sports sculpture. I've lived and breathed it 18 years, so I know what's important, and what's not. As a collector, one of the funnest things is finding something you've never seen. This is a perfect example. Even though Soccer's not my bag really, it's just a great piece. Plus I figure I might be able to use it for a trade some day if I come across someone in Europe that has the baseball Vienna bronze, that is pictured in the Vienna Tennis Bronze Story I wrote. 

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