Lot # 9: 1891 Brand Patent Golf Ball

Category: Golf Balls

Starting Bid: $500.00

Bids: 7 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Fall 2021",
which ran from 11/4/2021 11:00 AM to
11/20/2021 8:00 PM



This is a beautiful ball. It appears unused and is striking in the way that the black border sets off the Brand name in large block letters.  It really stands out and the maker—the North British Rubber Company—was obviously quite proud of it, and wanted it to appear dramatic, as something special!

In 1893, the North British Rubber Company advertised Brand’s Patent Celluloid pneumatic ball as being white throughout.  Also, the Sept 16,1897 issue of Golfing and Cycling Illustrated reports on the Brand and the Melfort balls as being white throughout.  However, that articles states "One defect they had, which was that they were somewhat less bright in colour than the painted ball.  This has been got over by applying a coat of white paint which is not eaqily removed.  When it does flake off, in course of hard treatment, the ball is still almost white, or at worst, a kind of cream colour."

There are a few places where the paint has flaked off this ball and the material is dark underneath, and appears to be gutta percha. But it is also possible that its a dark celluloid.

it was John Brand (of the North British Rubber Company) who in November of 1891 applied for British patent (19,763) on a celluloid pneumatic ball. According to John Duncan Dunn's article on early golf ball patents published in the August 1904 issue of Golf(ny), Brand's patent states that his ball was to be made from celluloid and have a core filled with pressurized air—in other words it was a pneumatic ball. (Dunn notes that this "celluloid pneumatic ball" was too hard and "smashed the faces of clubs."  Dunn does not state that the ball was solid white, which would have been a big deal at that time. A ball made from material that eliminated painting would have been a big step, worthy of a big marketing point and something Dunn would not have ignored.

There is a known c. 1893 ball marked "Brand Patent" that is unpainted and made from white celluloid (after 130 years its a yellowed white). It has a different surface pattern than this ball, which again, is most likely gutta percha. 

Be it made from Gutta percha or a painted dark celluloid, the Brand ball offered here is extremely rare and in outstanding condition!

 





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