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 (Medium Blue), 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 1907 Washington Senators (now Minnesota Twins) uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Minnesota Twins uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Minnesota Twins products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Nola McConnan 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 Major League Baseball unless specifically stated otherwise in writing by MLB. For further information, please contact Heritage Sports Art at questions@heritagesportsart.com .

 

History

In 1899 baseball's first ever contraction took place when the National League decided to reduce its number of members from twelve to eight due to overwhelming financial troubles. One of the cities ousted from the league was the Washington Senators. Fortunately, for the city of Washington a new major league was about to emerge on the scene and soon big league ball would return to the U.S. capital.In 1901 the American League began play with eight teams. The new Washington AL franchise, trying to distinguish themselves from the defunct NL Senators, was named the Nationals. However D.C. area baseball fans never took a liking to that name and preferred to call the new team the Senators; something they would continue to do for 50+ years.Perhaps calling the team the Nationals was too confusing for the fans. Teams during this era did not always have nicknames and it was customary at the time for the media to refer to teams by their home city and the league in which they played, especially in cities that had two teams. (For instance the NL Boston Braves were often referred to as the Boston Nationals so not to be confused with the Red Sox, the American League franchise.) So to have a team named the Nationals playing American League was problematic. But hey, what's in a name anyway!In 1900 baseball began the custom of using separate uniforms for home and road games. Traditionally home outfits were white and road togs were grey. Here we see in 1907 the AL Washington club moved away from convention and adopted a solid dark blue uniform for the road.Despite its distinct look, these uniforms perhaps weren't the most ideal for baseball. During this period, we know that baseball uniforms were either 100% wool flannel or a blend of wool and cotton, great materials for cool weather. Can you imagine having to endure summers heat and humidity wearing heavy, dark coloured flannel uniforms?Most baseball jerseys at this time were pullovers with long fold-down collars. It was the style at the time to wear the shirt collars folded up and pinned at the throat. This trend may have been the impetus for the advent of shorter collars like the cadet collar and the V-neck that came around in 1912.Note also that even though the jersey has four buttons down the front, this is still a  pullover style jersey that had to be pulled over the head once again, this was common in jerseys throughout baseball at this time. We believe the first major league team to wear a completely buttoned front jersey (ie one that didn't have to be pulled over the head) was the 1909 Phillies, followed by the 1911 Cubs. The pullover style jersey finally disappeared after the 1939 season (the Athletics were the last team to wear it), but of course pullovers resurfaced in a big way in the polyester double knit era of the 70's and 80's.The Senators ended the 1907 campaign with a paltry 49-102 record, landing them in basement of the eight-team American League. The lone bright spot was rookie pitcher Walter Johnson. He finished second in the AL in strikeouts per nine innings with 5.69.