Lady Tennis Player

SOLD

J.L. Mott Iron Works (1828-1897)
New York or Chicago, ca. 1892
Full-body pressed sheet iron
Condition: Great condition, traces of a sized and painted surface, now oxidized
Provenance: Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin, sold at Sotheby’s, January, 2016; Fred Giampetro, New Haven, Connecticut
This particular lady tennis player weathervane is iconic and one of the best known early examples by Mott. It has survived in remarkable condition, especially for sheet iron, while also retaining a wonderful oxidized surface.
As noted in the catalogue, “The first American tennis players were women. New Yorker Mary Ewing Outerbridge was introduced to the newly invented English game of lawn tennis while vacationing in Bermuda in 1874, and, on her return home, set up the first American tennis court on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club where she played against her sister.”