Stamped "Martin's England" on one pole and "Zodiac Patents" on the other, this Martins-Birmingham Ltd Zodiac ball strikes a strong pose with its round studs! A writer in the November 1927 Morning Post described it as follows, "Unless I am mistaken, the Zodiac was the first ball made with a centre, a bag of viscous fluid, which was heavily weighted with white lead or something of the kind."

On this particular ball, the red lettering has been installed above white lettering.  The auctioneer believes it was done back in the day and most likely with an actual "paint pen" that came to be used by ball makers. This is not a counterfeit ball. The ball consists of a gutta percha cover on a rubber core. The paint job is old and highly attractive, accomplished by a skill set lost to the ball-making world today.