Incredibly rare studio cabinet photo originating from the studio of Joseph Wood, one of New York's premier studio photographers, well-known for both his baseball photography and his connection to various 19th Century baseball card issues. Each of the photos originating from this series picture a vignette portrait of a member of the New York Metropolitans of the American Association. Each player is handsomely dressed, wearing a polka-dot necktie. These images (without vignettes) would be used on N172 Old Judge portrait cards; these "Spotted Tie" portraits are among the most desirable of all the subsets in the series. The Old Judge "Spotted Tie" subset is extremely difficult to complete; these Jos. Wood cabinets are more rare by orders of magnitude. In fact, of the five examples featured in this auction, only one appears in the most recent (2017) edition of the Standard Catalog, with just three appearing in the online checklist at TCDB.com. 

Each of the cards in the grouping we are offering shares a common characteristic: the subject's name has been written in the bottom border, in pencil. Though no advanced collector of this type of material would presume this writing to be an autograph, the writing gave both grading companies pause. Neither SGC nor PSA would holder the cards for fear that the writing would somehow be mistaken for an Stephen Brady autograph, so each company (including SGC, which doesn't even authenticate autographs, and who have authenticated cabinets with similar writing in the past) returned the cards to us without authenticating. We assure you, this cabinet is genuine!

Steve Brady was given just one pose in the N172 Old Judge issue, a "Spotted Tie" portrait catalogued as card #39-1. Brady was in his last major league season in 1886, though he continued to play professionally through 1890. His major league numbers were decent if not spectacular; in six years he accumulated a .261 lifetime average. The cabinet, currently uncatalogued, is well-worn with Brady's name handwritten in the bottom border. The image of Brady itself is strong and clear, with exceptional detail. A highly desirable 19th Century rarity.