Lot # 2259: Nineteenth Century Lemon Peel Ball

Early lemon peel ball, so named because its stitch pattern mimics the cuts used to peel a lemon. This ball features the classic lemon-peel design and is constructed of a single piece of leather, with the stitches meeting together at a single point along the top. Although this ball was constructed during the earliest days of our national pastime, it might well have been used to play any number of ball and/or bat games, including but not exclusively limited to baseball, rounders, and "one o' cat." This ball, which appears to be handmade, weighs 2.4 ounces and measures approximately 8 inches in circumference. In the late 1850s, the National Association of Baseball Players changed the standard specifications of a regulation ball. The new rules required that the baseball weigh 6.25 ounces (up from the previous standard of 5.5 ounces) and have a circumference of 10.25 inches (as opposed to the earlier measurement of 9 inches). The fact that this ball is much smaller and lighter than either of those earlier specifications indicates that it most likely dates to an earlier time period, when ball and bat games were still the domain of children. The ball has heavy wear with substantial crazing to the surface and abrasions throughout. The stitching is mostly tight and intact. Fair condition overall.