The most iconic ball in the game of golf is the Feather Ball. It's the stuff of lore and legend. Here, we have the real thing, a beautiful example with an exposed leather cover..

This ball stands well apart from most other featherballs.  Measuring 1.69" at the poles and 1.63" at the equator, this unmarked feather ball is smaller than normal.  In any display of feather balls, this ball will stand out because of its size. Not an abundance of these.

While the largest feather balls are believed to be the oldest, the smaller ones do not necessarily date to the end of the feather ball era.  The seams are not stitched as neat as is found on feather balls made by , Allan, the Gourlays, and others from their era. That could be due to lower quality workmanship by the maker or relaxed standards of an earlier time.  Smaller balls worked better in the wind and made the hole just a little larger.  They were also a little more difficult to make as the auctioneer sees it, so that could also explain the inconsistent stitching in a few places.  Stuffing a top hat full of feathers into an even smaller interior would not be fun.  

With the advent of the gutta percha golf ball in 1845, feather balls were well on their way out by 1850. This ball was most likely made during the first half of the 19th century.

The last image in this lot includes the larger feather ball available as its own lot in this auction.