Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment

The whistle that blew after just a minute of play to signal the first penalty kick ever awarded in a World Cup Final has sold for £4200 at a London auction.

Golf books do not bring as many really high prices as was once the case, but the most recent of the regular sales in this category held by a Californian saleroom did contain a couple of surprises.

The sale at Knights Sporting Auctions in Leicester on November 2-3 includes a number of items previously sold by Christie’s as duplicates from the library of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2010.

A reminder of football’s early days, when huge crowds watched teams from the Scottish league playing counterparts from England, this 15ct gold medal with enamelled Scottish lion rampant was a hit when offered in its spiritual home of Glasgow by McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium).

Sphairistike, an ancient Greek term meaning skill in playing at ball, was the name Major Walter Wingfield chose for the game he patented and first advertised early in 1874.

The earliest days of Tottenham Hotspur FC are revealed in a remarkable hand-written ledger coming up at auction in a November 4-5 London sale.

Punching well above its weight, a 9ct gold Lonsdale Championship boxing trophy presented to legendary Glaswegian champion Benny Lynch was the top draw at Fellows’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale in Birmingham.

MADAM – I was pleased to see the report in ATG No 2410 on the cricket collection sold by the Canterbury Auction Galleries.

This 9ct Rolex Tudor wristwatch below was presented by the Northern Irish FA to forward Derek Dougan, known by his nickname ‘The Doog’.

Amassed by one of the longest-serving members of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), a group of cricketing lots notched up a number of auction highlights last month.

Daniel Mendoza is considered one of the first ‘modern’ boxers – one who helped elevate boxing to a sport rather than just two blokes beating each other up.

American Lance Wyman (b.1937) is regarded by many as one of the greatest graphic designers of the modern era and the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico – the first to be held in Latin America – gave him the ideal canvas to showcase his considerable talents.

A selection of Victorian cricket scenes (one shown below) by Lucien Davis (1860-1941) was offered at Roseberys London (25/20/12% buyer’s premium).

The first Olympic gold medal won by a British woman in an individual swimming event has been bought by her home town for public display.

The John Goodwin (15% buyer’s premium) saleroom in Malvern offered what it dubbed “probably the most notorious bat in cricket history” in its June 20 auction: the infamous aluminium bat used by Dennis Lillee in the 1979-80 Ashes.

This rare oak Slazenger tennis racket press featured in the Vintage & Antique toy sale at Mitchells (20% buyer’s premimum) of Cockermouth on July 20.

The London firm founded by Frederick Henry Ayres in the mid 19th century is best known for its for high-quality rocking horses but Ayres also produced a wide range of equipment for indoor and outdoor games and sport.

Stand-out lot in the Julien’s auction on November 14 in Beverly Hills is a Brooklyn Dodgers coaching uniform worn by Babe Ruth, America’s baseball hero. It comes from a 350-piece private collection amassed over 30 years.