This beautifully framed piece features an original piece of watercolor artwork glass-framed in an attractive two inch wide black resin frame with a double mat. The outer dimensions of the framed piece are approximately 17” wide x 24.5” high, although the exact size will vary according to the size of the original piece of art.

At the core of the framed piece is the actual piece of original artwork as painted by the artist on textured 100% rag, water-marked watercolor paper. In many cases the original artwork has handwritten notes in pencil from the artist (be sure to “See the actual artwork without the frame” elsewhere in this website). Simply put, this is beautiful, one-of-a-kind artwork.

The outer mat is a rich textured black acid-free mat with a decorative inset white v-groove, while the inner mat is a complimentary colored acid-free mat reflecting one of the team’s primary colors. The website image of this framed piece shows the mat color that we suggest (Red), but since each piece is custom framed, we are happy to use whatever color mat you wish (depending on availability) – our standard mat colors are:

Light Blue / Dark Blue / Brown / Maroon (close to brown) / White / Silver / Gold / Yellow (bright yellow) / Green (dark green) / Orange / Purple / Red (bright red, somewhat close to PMS 186)

Beneath the artwork is a silver plate with black text describing the original artwork. The text for this piece will read:

This original, one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of the 1960 Buffalo Bills uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Buffalo Bills uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Buffalo Bills products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Tino Paolini for Maple Leaf Productions Ltd.

Beneath the silver plate is a 3” x 9” reproduction of a well known, best-selling print that celebrates the history of the team. The print beautifully illustrates the chronological evolution of the team’s uniform and shows you how the original art was used in the creation of this print. If you look closely, you will see that the print features the actual artwork being offered for sale. The 3” x 9” print looks like this:

The piece is framed with an extremely high quality framing glass. We have used this glass style for many years with excellent results. We package every piece very carefully in a double layer of bubble wrap and a rigid double-wall cardboard package to avoid breakage at any point during the shipping process, but if damage does occur, we will gladly repair, replace or refund. Please note that all of our products come with a 90 day 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Each framed piece also comes with a two page letter signed by Scott Sillcox describing the history behind the art. If there was an extra-special story about your piece of art, that story will be included in the letter. When you receive your framed piece, you should find the letter lightly attached to the front of the framed piece.

If you have any questions, at any time, about the actual artwork or about any of the artist’s handwritten notes on the artwork, I would love to tell you about them. Simply email me, Scott Sillcox, at scott@heritagesportsart.com and I will tell you everything I can about your original piece of art. The artists and I spent well over ten years of our lives creating these pieces of original artwork, and in many cases there are stories I can tell you about your actual piece of artwork that might add an extra element of interest in your one-of-a-kind purchase.

Please note that all reproduction rights for this original work are retained in perpetuity by the National Football League unless specifically stated otherwise in writing by the NFL. For further information, please contact Heritage Sports Art at questions@heritagesportsart.com .

 

History

Even though it's a tenuous connection, let's start the story of the Buffalo Bills with the birth of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946. The AFL was a league established to rival the long since established NFL. In its inaugural season the AFL had 8 teams: Brooklyn Dodgers; Buffalo Bisons; Chicago Rockets; Cleveland Browns; Los Angeles Dons; Miami Seahawks; New York Yankees; San Francisco 49ers. It gets a bit confusing because one might assume that at least 3 of these teams (Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and the 49ers) went on to join the NFL in 1950 when the AAFC and the NFL agreed to a truce, but in fact the deal was that the NFL would take in the AAFC's two best teams, the Browns and the 49ers, plus the lowly Baltimore Colts (who folded after one season in the NFL). The rest of the AAFC teams simply ceased operations.Getting back to Buffalo in the AAFC, the 1946 team was known as the Bisons. Prior to the 1947 season, a contest was held to rename the team, which was owned by James Breuil of the Frontier Oil Company. One entry suggested the name Bills, in honor of the famous western frontiersman, Buffalo Bill Cody. Carrying the frontier theme further, the entrant further suggested that the team was being supported by Frontier Oil and was opening a new frontier in sports in Western New York. As you can imagine, the team was renamed the Bills.As mentioned above, however, when the AAFC folded up shop after the 1949 season, so did the Bills.Now turn the hands of time ahead to 1959, and the birth of the American Football League (AFL), which was to begin operations in 1960 as an 8-team rival league to the NFL. On October 28, 1959, Ralph C. Wilson is awarded the AFL's seventh franchise and thus Buffalo was back in the world of professional football and joined the following teams in the AFL: New York Titans (now Jets); Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs); Los Angeles Chargers (now San Diego Chargers); Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans); Boston Patriots (now New England Patriots); and Denver Broncos. The Oakland Raiders became the AFL's eighth and final franchise after the Minnesota franchise (which would go on to become the Vikings) opts out of the AFL for the NFL before they play a single game.When it came time to name Buffalo's new AFL team, the name of Buffalo's earlier pro football team, the AAFC's Bills, was adopted.Both the AFL and NFL competed head to head for players, fans and broadcast revenue. This was the way it was from 1960 to 1965 - two separate leagues, two separate champions, although few people would have honestly believed that the AFL champion could have beaten the NFL champs. Then in 1965 the two leagues agreed to merge. It was decided that beginning in 1970 there would be only one league, the NFL. In the interim, between 1966 and 1969, the AFL Champion would play the NFL Champion for the World Championship. It was only after the first World Championship had been played in 1966 that the name Super Bowl came into being.The Bills began play in 1960 at the inner city War Memorial Stadium, and stayed there for 13 seasons. During that time the Bills saw the capacity rise from 26,000 to 45,748.A final stadium note: In 1973, owner Ralph C. Wilson moved the Bills to Rich Stadium in suburban Orchard Park, NY. And turn the hands of time ahead almost 30 years, and the owner is still Ralph C. Wilson. In fact, so revered is Wilson that in 1998, civic leaders decided to honor him and renamed the Bills stadium "Ralph Wilson Stadium."This blue Bills jersey has white numbers on both the front and the sleeves note how high up the sleeve numbers are. The helmet is white with black numbers interesting since the teams predominant color is clearly blue.As for on the field, the Bills finish year one 5-8-1, good for third place in the 8 team AFL.