Object Name: Ball, Golf
Other Name: Ball, guttie
Date: ca 1890’s
Year Range from: 1890
Year Range to: 1899
Description: Gutta Percha golf ball, The Eclipse Patent, in mesh pattern, painted white. Label text: Eclipse gutta percha, ca 1890’s
Maker: William Currie & Co., Caledonian Rubber Works, Edinburgh
Material: gutta percha
Dimension Details: 1—3/4″ (diameter)
Marks/Inscriptions: THE / ECLIPSE / PATENT (both sides)
Additional Notes: In 1877 Currie received a British patent, (No. 4,838) dated December 20, that covered making either golf balls or the cores of golf balls from indiarubber blended with ground cork, ground leather, or vegetable fibers. The surface of Currie’s ball was to be textured by lining the ball mold with canvas. Currie’s was the first patent to cover only a golf ball.
Object ID: B 120
