There is a lot to unpack regarding this Jackson c.1850s left-handed putter. It might not look brand new, but the auctioneer is highly partial to this club, and here's why.
First off, this club is entirely original—from finish to components. The 36 1/2" shaft was cracked during its playing days as is evidenced by the 11 1/2" length of whipping used to repair the crack. The crack was possibly glued as well judging from the fact that the shaft feels rock solid with little to no torque when holding the grip and gently twisting the head. Because so few left-handed clubs were made during the featherball era, it would have been important to keep this club in working condition given the dearth of clubs that left-handed golfers had to choose from.
On the shaft, just below the grip, are two notches. These can simply be cuts that an owner made to designate his clubs from others. but this club is left-handed, and it was highly unlikely that it would get mixed up with the clubs owned by the vast majority of golfers. On the other hand, Allan Robertson was known to nick the shaft of the clubs he sold. According to William Ayton in the December 1896 issue of The Golfer, "Allan was a ballmaker, but when he sold a club he nicked the shaft with a knife, and if he ever got it back, nicked it again." The article went on to say "Mr. Ayton has one, given him by Allan, in which there are four of those nicks."
Because notching a shaft is easy, and a dishonest individual might try to inflate the value of an old club artificially by doing so, a collector must consider the provenance of a club with a nicked shaft, including this one. The club certainly can be dated to the lifetime of Allan Robertson, and it would be a good club for him to keep on hand for resale purposes. But there is more. On the other side of the shaft is another nick. It is also close to the grip and a short distance above what appears to be the number "90." That nick is quite different from the other two nicks.
Given that one would expect counterfeit nicks made at the same moment in time by the same person to all look the same, the fact that these nicks are not all the same indicates that they are likely old. Furthermore, there would be no need to add one or two additional nicks to trick people when there was already a knick on the shaft. so the fact two of the nicks are different from the third nick tells the auctioneer that they are all old. But, alas, there is still nothing that proves they were made by Robertson. They could have been made by two different golfers. Then again, there is a genuine chance that Robertson did nick and sell this club. He was the man known to do so and other knicks are found on clubs known to have been owned by him. it all comes down to what each individual personally believes the odds are. If only golf clubs could talk!
No matter who owned this club, it was made by John Jackson whose work is among the best a collector can acquire. Jackson long nose clubs are described in The Clubmakers Art as follows: "John Jackson's clubs possess all the traits of a master at his craft: style, grace, and quality workmanship. Although Jackson was making clubs during the same period as Hugh Philp and Douglas McEwan, very few of his clubs remain compared to the number of known McEwan and Philp clubs."
As mentioned earlier, the head is all original, measuring 6" in length 1 7/8" in width, and 1 1/8" in face depth. The flat face and the horn on the sole appear untouched. The crown is stamped "Jackson" and "PG" the initials of the owner. Today the Jackson name is somewhat faint, but it is all there and still readable.
if you are looking for an honest Jackson club and not necessarily the prettiest, this is an honest Jackson loaded with character. This club is in the accompanying 10-putter group image.
For more on John Jackson, see TCA2 V1 p. 52-53