McCarthy, Left Field, Boston, from Mayo's Cut Plug Baseball series (N300)
Medium
Commercial lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 13/16 × 1 5/8 in. (7.2 × 4.1 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
Burdick 222, N300.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s baseball with *McCarthy, Left Field, Boston*, a gem from P.H. Mayo & Brother Mayo's Cut Plug Baseball seriesN300). Produced in Richmond, Virginia, this petite commercial lithograph (just 2 13/16 × 1 5/8 inches) captures Boston's star left fielder in a dynamic portrait, likely Tommy McCarthy, a Hall of Fame outfielder for the Boston Beaneaters Issued as promotional inserts in Mayo's chewing tobacco packets, these cards fueled the era's baseball craze, turning everyday smokers into avid collectors. Lithography, the printing technique here, enabled vivid colo...