1875 Cabinet Photo of Young Tom Morris
Personally Gifted by Young Tom
We've had the
luxury of selling some of the rarest golf memorabilia in our day, but the
offered piece is something we can honestly say we never expected to find.
Offered here is an original cabinet card of the great Young Tom Morris which
appears to have originated from Young Tom himself.
This original cabinet card contains quite possibly the most
iconic of all known images of Young Tom Morris - posing with the Open
Championship Challenge Belt. Young Tom Morris died at the age of 24 in 1875,
and only a few original photographs of Young Tom are known to exist. And
only a couple of those examples are original cabinet cards, which are
coveted by collectors. Surely any such cabinet card would fetch thousands of
dollars at auction, but the provenance written on the reverse of this
original cabinet card appears to trace the cabinet card back to Young Tom himself! To
put that in perspective, only one or two items in the entire world can be
tied directly to Young Tom Morris.
When studio portraits became popular in the late 1800’s (when
only wealthy families could afford them), photographers would customarily
produce a half dozen or so cabinet cards after the photography session, with
additional copies available for purchase at an additional expense. These
early cabinet cards were generally handed out to relatives – the very
beginning of the tradition of trading photographs with other family members.
According to the provenance written on the back of this cabinet card, this
exact cabinet card was obtained when Young Tom Morris’ cousin Isabel W.
Morris Gifted it to William Kilpatrick, Sr.
Inscription and Photographer's mark on back:
John Hardie,
Photographer, St. Andrews
Young Tommie Morris “golfer”
Wearing Championship Belt
1868-1870
Original given to Wm. Kilpatrick Sr. by Tommie Morris’ first cousin Isabel
W. Morris daughter of Robert Morris
at Ridgefield Conn. 1945
____ Kilpatrick (signature)