Table Tennis Collector 38 - ITTF

Latest from Ebay
One of the best sources of items to augment collections of any sort is the
internet auction giant Ebay. He is a selection of some of the better items
that have been traded on Ebay since the last issue of this journal.
Two more “signature” bats have found their way also to the ITTF
Museum and I never cease to be staggered at the high prices
these items command. The Richard Bergmann bat (below left) was
made by Dobbykraft. It sold for GBP 135.
This was not so much as the GBP 175 paid for the Miklos Szabados
bat made by Slazengers, probably in the 1930s. The bat has
been well used and the blue rubber displays quite a lot of wear.
However, even these prices are dwarfed by the USD 405 paid by a
collector for the Stiga Flisan (named after Tage Flisberg) bat made
in Sweden in the 1950s. A similar bat was featured in Collector no.
32 having been acquired by the ITTF Museum for almost the same
price. However, you might also remember that USD 788 was paid
for the one featured in the last issue. How many of you are now
scurrying around in your attics hoping to find that item that may be
worth oh! so much?
www.ebay.com
Pictured left is one of the more unusual
items to have appeared on Ebay. I apologise
that the photo is not so good. The
seller failed to get it uploaded onto Ebay so
this is a picture that was emailed to me.
It is a bat in a presentation case that has a
leather exterior, a plush maroon velvet
base and a scarlet lining to the lid. There is
a gilt manufacturer’s stamp “D. George
Collins Manufacturing Silversmith, 118
Newgate Street, London. On the bat is a
hallmarked silver shield inscribed “Ping
Pong in Den of Lions, Brighton, 8 March
1902 Won by A.C. Barnett”. The shield is
surmounted by a lion.
The occasion was a game of table tennis
played in a cage of eleven lions at the Hippodrome,
Brighton, before an audience of
2,000 spectators.
Table Tennis and Pastimes Pioneer, in its
edition of 15 March 1902 described it thus:
“BRIGHTON.—A sensational match took
place on Saturday night at the Brighton
Hippodrome when two local gentlemen,
named E.W. Barnett and H.W. Izod, played
a game for £50 a side in a cage in which
there were eleven lions. The former finally
won the game, the lions taking but little interest
in it. The balls used were subsequently
distributed among the audience as
momentoes of the exhibition.”
This story is also recounted in Gerald Gurney’s
The Early Years and the Ebay item
includes a newspaper cutting giving full details
of the event. This item of great historical
interest found its way to the ITTF Museum
for GBP 160.
No. 38 The Table Tennis Collector Page 6