Photographs Ephemera Humour etc

Postcard cartoon of boxer c.1910

Colour postcard featuring an artist's impression of a caricature of a boxer, c.1910, German, unused, good condition.

Phil May boxing postcard 1904
Colour postcard showing an artist's impression of two men boxing, by Phil May ( British 1904-15), published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, series 1295, used and sent 1904, some scuffing and light staining.

A Fair Knock Out, 1920s
Artist drawn colour postcard depicting boxer Georges Carpentier knocking out Bill Kaiser in his XXX fight, 1920s, artist signature to recto with printed title ' A Fair Knock Out', unused, good condition.

Cartoon of boxer postcard, Portugal, c.1910
Colour postcard featuring artist-drawn caricature of a boxer, Portugal, c.1910, unused, fair condition with some surface dirt.

Russo-Japanese war satire 1904-5
Satirical postcard showing an artist-drawn caricature of a Japanese and Russian soldier boxing each other and blood being shed, by E. Muller (German 1905-1915), 1904-5, unused, good condition.

Comic postcard black and white boxer
Comic artist-drawn postcard showing a caricatures of a black and white boxer fighting in a ring, by F. Vogel, 1929, stamped with Antwerp 1930 stamp to recto, text printed to recto may be an advert for a comedy act in the Netherlands, unused.

Lithograph by William Nickolson, 1890s
Colour lithograph depicting two boxers, by William Nickolson, taken from Almanack of Sports (1890s), 251 x 312mm, image titled 'November' to recto.

A Visit to the Fives Court, 1822
Aquatint and etching of a boxing match in a Fives court, 1st August 1822, by J. R.Cruikshank, published by Sherwood, Neely & Jones, originally engraved for the Annals of Sporting & Fancy Gazette, and reproduced as a fine centre print along with text by Cruikshank in Egan's Sporting Anecdotes, 1825 (pp184-6). Print lettered with title and 'Engraved for the Annals of Sporting & Fancy Gazette/ Designed & Etched by J. R Cruikshank/ Pub'd by Sherwood, Neely & Jones Aug't 1st 1822'.

Sparring Dedicated to the Fancy, 1817

Hand-coloured etching, 370 x268mm, by I. R Cruikshank, published by J Sidebotham (London), February 1817, BM has following description for its uncoloured version: ‘Two men in shirts and breeches fight with boxing-gloves. The slighter man (left) gives his burly opponent a blow on the nose from which blood spurts. The spectators sit on chairs or stand; most register satisfaction at the blow, a few are concerned. One or two are fashionably dressed, notably a Jew wearing Hessian boots. Like other spectators he has a long pipe; most smoke and drink, and are rough-looking fellows. In the foreground (left) sits a man with a bull-dog, in ragged clothes of fashionable cut; a bunch of hooks for picking locks hangs from his pocket. On the right stands a knock-kneed negro pugilist holding boxing-gloves; a book, 'Boxiana', is at his feet. Two dogs behind the fighters face each other aggressively. Over the (empty) fireplace is a portrait of 'Jackson', placing his hat on the pedestal of a statue of a gladiator [from its size this is the mezzotint by C. Turner; a smaller copy was engraved in stipple], copied from Marshall's portrait. It is flanked (left) by portraits of 'Moline[ux]' and 'Belcher' [Tom or James] and (right) by 'Crib' and 'Dutch Sam' [Elias], all stripped and in sparring attitudes. On the extreme left is a print of fighting cocks, 'Game Chickens'. Lettered with title and production details: 'I. R. Cruikshank, fecit./ London, Pub: by Sidebotham, Feby 1817/ 38 Burlington Arcade', brittle and colour faded with cracks and staining and tear to image.

An Old Pugilist, 1926
Drypoint of an old pugilist, 1926, by George Bam, 254 x 331mm, inscribed in pencil to recto with: 'An Old Pugilist (Drypoint) Exhibited at Salon des artistes Francaises 1926 George Bam',  good condition, tear to top edge.

A Hero of the Ring & his Agent, 1919
Hand-coloured etching depicting former Welsh world boxing champion Jimmy Wilde (1892- 1969) with his agent Teddy Lewis by George Belcher, Aril 1919, 340 x 235mm approx,  lettered with title and: 'The National Sporting Club./ taken from Life/ Jimmy Wilde & Teddy Lewis' and ' Drawn & Etched by George Belcher April 1919', signed George Belcher in pencil to edge margin. British Museum has a copy see 1920,1123.12.

Taking the count and three other postcards, 1905 -1915

Four colour postcards by Roth & Langley, 1905-15, from the Skeleton series '110', depiciting a skull with boxing gloves, titled 'Taking the Count'; skull with chips and dice, titled ' A Game of Chance'; skull with horseshoe and cash: ' The Last Lap'; and skull with fishing basket and line: ' Fisherman's Luck', all unused but with some wear and scuffing

 

La Boxe c.1900
French colour postcard depicting a boxer with gloves, 1905-15, title 'La Boxe' printed to recto, unused, good condition with slight crease

'In Die Stricke Gelandet' postcard by Schonpflug
Colour postcard of a white boxer knocking another out the ring, 1910-15, by Fritz Schonpflug (Austria), series 278, number 2, with printed signature to recto, unused, very good condition with very slight stain from age to top edge. (217)

Black humor postcard 1910s
Lightweight postcard showing two minstrel-type black men in top hats and tails boxing with gloves, by A. Gombert et Soeur for Principaux Biscuits,  'Biscuits Germain/ Lyon' stamped to recto, with product list printed to verso, some glue stains to recto, fair condition.

Gans-Nelson fight commemorative postcard by Ben Michaels 1906

Fantastic postcard commemorating the Gans-Nelson fight of 1906, by Ben Michaels, September 1906, photo of Nelson to left with printed hand-written title 'Batt. Nelson' underneath and of Gans to right, titled 'Joe Gans', printed hand-written text reads: 'Gans-Nelson/ $30,000/ match/ Biggest nugget ever taken/ from the Nevada mines./ "I'm at the fight"/ Goldfield, Nevada' then space to fill in date, in which is written 'Sept 3d' and printed hand-written date reading '1906', inscribed by sender to recto in pen ' How are these for ado?/ C. W. B.', used and sent, crease to right, fair condition.

This lightweight championship fight took place on 3rd September, 1906 in Goldfield, Nevada with Joe Gans and Oscar 'Battling' Nelson both competing for Gans’ lightweight title, which itself was surrounded by controversy. Promoted by Tex Rickard, Goldfield was the perfect location for the fight, being one of the great mining camps of the 1800s. The gate receipt was an unheard of $76,000. The purse for the fight was 33,500; Gans was to receive $11,000 and Nelson 22,500 even though Gans was favored 2-1. Rickard also put up an additional $2,000 signing bonus for each man and $500 for expenses. All totaled it was the largest amount of money ever offered for a lightweight title bout up to that time. Finally in the 42nd round Nelson hit Gans with a low-blow that was quickly ruled a foul. Joe Gans was declared the winner of the fight by disqualification.

Gans-Nelson fight commemorative postcard by Ben Michaels 1906

Fantastic postcard commemorating the Gans-Nelson fight of 1906, by Ben Michaels, September 1906, photo of Nelson to left with printed hand-written title 'Nelson' underneath and of Gans to right, titled 'Gans', below is cartoon of Tex Rickard (the fight promoter) standing on a soap box pointing at Goldfield on a map of the United States, below is crowd scene with printed hand-drawn speech bubbles saying 'Ray!','Guess we aint there!' and 'Wow!' and below printed hand-written text that reads: 'Tex Rickard. "Boys whats the leading city in the U.S?"/ Chorus - "GOLDFIELD"!!!', inscribed in ink to recto: 'To/ Let you know where we are/ "ere on the Mafu." OK' used and sent, creasing especially to centre and wear.

This lightweight championship fight took place on 3rd September, 1906 in Goldfield, Nevada with Joe Gans (1874-)  and Oscar 'Battling' Nelson both competing for Gans’ lightweight title, which itself was surrounded by controversy. Promoted by Tex Rickard, Goldfield was the perfect location for the fight, being one of the great mining camps of the 1800s. The gate receipt was an unheard of $76,000. The purse for the fight was 33,500; Gans was to receive $11,000 and Nelson 22,500 even though Gans was favored 2-1. Rickard also put up an additional $2,000 signing bonus for each man and $500 for expenses. All totaled it was the largest amount of money ever offered for a lightweight title bout up to that time. Finally in the 42nd round Nelson hit Gans with a low-blow that was quickly ruled a foul. Joe Gans was declared the winner of the fight by disqualification.

Joffre, Champion de France et D' Europe, c.1915
Political/ satirical postcard showing Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre, commander-in-chief of the French Army (1914-1916) beating a personification of Germany in a boxing match, by J. d' Ourian, c.1915, published by Fot-Nox, Paris. Lettered to recto with title and: 'Encore un round et il sera Knocked-Out!...', printed signature of artist, number '181' and 'Fot-Nox/ Paris' also printed to recto, unused and unsent, fair condition.

Anti-semitic/ racial stereotype boxing postcard 1910/20
Czech political/satirical postcard depicting black boxer with flat cap kicking Jewish stereotyper boxer out of the ring, c.1910/20, 141 x 91mm, initialled 'N' to recto, production details to verso, unused, good condition.

'Das sind Manner, Gustav!' postcard c.1915
Paper colour postcard depciting two men boxing, with two members of the crowd chatting in the background, c. 1915, by E. Neubert, lettered with title and printed artist's signature, unused, unsent.


SF