Outstanding Darktown Battery Mechanical Bank

Circa 1888: Designed by Philadelphia's James H. Bowen for the J. & E. Stevens Company in Cromwell, Connecticut and marketed as the Base Ball Bank, the iconic Darktown Battery mechanical bank features three African American baseball players engaged in America's favorite pastime and is one of the earliest commercial references to black baseball teams, possibly playing off the first two attempts at professional black baseball, the Southern Leauge of Colored Base Ballists in 1886 and its subsequent organization the National Colored Base Ball League in 1887. Considering that the first of the seven relatively successful African American baseball leagues, The Negro National League, which was governed by the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, wasn't formed until 1920, this late 1880s reference to the era of segregated baseball is a key historical nod to the importance of black athletes in American culture. This very strong example of the Darktown Battery has survived in superb all original and unrepaired working condition with no chips, cracks, repairs, replacement, or paint touch up and retains over 90% of its original paint, with most paint wear in the expected area of the ground near the catcher and on his chest protector where coins would skid across the ground, strike the chest protector, and drop into the bank. Provenance: Ex Tom Sage Sr.