Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction June 2010
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/22/2010
Yes, we've handled and offered the hobby some sensational Lord Stanley signed pieces in the past but none more so than this jaw-dropping and thought-provoking ensemble! The man who donated hockey's most coveted prize, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, is pictured here and signed the 4" by 5-1/2" real photograph "Stanley of Preston", dating it "Oct/90." The photo is applied to a big (approximately 11-1/2" x 15-1/2") thin cardboard stock page removed from a type of high class book and is accompanied by a similar photo of his wife who signed her image "Constance Stanley of Preston - Dec 9 - 1890." Both the top of Mr. Stanley's photo and right side of Mrs. Stanley's were lightly trimmed, slightly affecting the penmanship, but when the fact that this is the only known photograph of Lord Stanley which is signed "Stanley of Preston" is brought forth, the seriousness of the former seems small. The only other autographed Stanley image that we've handled in the past was a postcard that was signed "Derby". Also intriguing in this lot is the fountain pen notation below Lord Stanley's photo which reads "My companion on the toboggin for part of the way!", as well as the contents of other pages. The opposite side of the Stanley page features a photo of people tobogganing down and heading back up to the top of a slide, with the hand-printed caption "Pulling the tobbogin up the slide - Ottawa." Two other double-sided pages also include approximately 7-1/2" by 9-1/2 first-rate matte-finish works of a professional photographer and include images of Rideau Hall (the Stanleys' residence while in Ottawa), the Parliament Houses, Ottawa viewed from Rideau Hall and Lord Dufferin's sledge with toboggan slide in the distance, the latter offering a splendid view of the impressive wooden construction, prompted by the popularity of tobogganing during the 19th century. Moderate warping of the cardboard pages are to mention, but overall, a spine-tingling, surely one-of-a-kind, museum-worthy jackpot with insufficient superlatives to describe it, although we've done our best!
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